The Cybertronian-Reaper War
by Ordo Warrior
Summary: Picking up where 'The Prime Effect' left off. As the Autobots attempt to intergrate into organic society, the Reaper invasion begins and the Decepticons don't seem to have any intrest in helping.
1. Chapter 1

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

_Thoughts,_ _'binary code', _(alien language), "talking"

* * *

**AN:** I'm crazy, four, four different stories I'm going to try and keep up with! Well there goes this brain...and any sense of a predictable update timeframe...

* * *

_Three orbital cycles, three long orbital cycles with just myself to speak with…it has become rather dull and annoying. After that stunt I tried to pull, Megatron would have my head on a wall. I can't use these mass relays without someone detecting my approach to them or following me. Autobots, Decepticons, organics, all of them want to see me destroyed, but it will be I who will conquer them. It's only a matter of time._

Starscream arrived to the Bahak system just as his Reaperized-self told him to meet the other Reapers before they overwhelm the galaxy. Only the entire system was gone. "Wh…What happened?"

"I don't know, you tell me! You're supposed to know about all of this!"

Starscream came across a piece of a mass relay ring, and nothing else. "That explains everything."

"What does it explain?"

"The organics destroyed the Alpha Relay. They must have learned about its importance. With this relay, Shockwave and the others could have stormed the entire galaxy and the Citadel simultaneously and without warning. The extermination would have been swift and decisive."

"So, these organics are far more resourceful than we thought…"

"Yes…it would seem so." A bright yellow glow blinded Starscream as a massive black form showed its presence to him. It was even larger than Starscream's Reaper body with six brightly glowing eyes and ten legs. "Now tell me, Starscream, why I shouldn't vaporize you here and now."

"Because, you'll need me to help you eliminate Megatron."

"I already know how to deal with Megatron. Your usefulness to me is quickly diminishing. If you are done, I will make this quick…"

Shockwave's body moved as the eyes started to glow brighter, ready to blast him. "Wait! Wait! I can help you! I can listen to everything Megatron is planning!"

"I can already do that."

Shockwave quickly and easily bypassed Decepticon security as he started to listen in on them, "_Megatron, we've captured another facility for energon processing._"

Shockwave's eyes continued to glow brighter, "You'll need me to convince the Decepticons that you are the future! Once Megatron has been eliminated, I will convince the others that we should join you, then we can become stronger…"

Shockwave powered down his weapons. "We shall see. If the Decepticons do not fall in line with you under our command, you and the others will be eliminated." With Starscream's acceptance of the terms, Shockwave created an opening in his superstructure for Starscream to enter, but limited where he was permitted to traverse.

* * *

Roughly eight orbital cycles have passed now since the Second Battle of the Citadel was initiated by Megatron and the Decepticons. There were some unexpected effects that have occurred because of the battle. With news about the Decepticons assault, the various species have started to bolster their defenses and offenses. The Vol Protectorate began petitioned the Turian Hierarchy for more ships to defend and patrol their planets, as the turians themselves started to patrol their territory more frequently and hardened their lines of communication. The Salarian Union has started to send its Special Task Group agents to monitor Cybertronian movements. The Asari Republic has started to close their territory from the Attican Traverse and Terminus Systems. The Systems Alliance has also ramped up their production to rebuild their fleets after the devastating lost from the First Battle of the Citadel.

The Decepticons have also been busy. With Shockwave's absent from Cybertron, Jhiaxus was left in charge of the remaining Decepticons on Cybertron while Megatron continued to send them energon to feed into Cybertron's core.

The Decepticons weren't as concerned about the shift in organic activity, so long as they could acquire more energon. Decepticon forces were preparing to attack another one of the pathetic organics' refineries with every Seeker gathered in the _Nemesis_' hangar. "Air Commander Slipstream, all Seekers are on standby. We are awaiting your orders."

The hangar door opens, with Slipstream standing in front of them all. "Decepticons, to victory!" She jumped out followed by the others in waves. As the seekers transform and jetted into the area, Slipstream continued to free-fall for most of the distance, letting the wind guide her toward her target. Roughly five hics above the ground, Slipstream finally transformed into her jet form as she now took point of the Seeker fleet. Just like the last fifteen facilities, it had been abandoned by the organic before the Decepticons arrived. And like the last eight, more than half of the energy was already syphoned out.

As the feeds came in from the Seekers, Shockwave turned around, "As expected Lord Megatron, the organic seem to be changing their tactics. We probably won't be able to squeeze more than ten energon cubes out of this place."

A fact Megatron was not pleased with. He initially allowed Counterpunch to provide the Autobots with information on 'potential Decepticon attacks' to satisfy Optimus' need to protect the organics but the loss of potential energon is starting to prove costly. "_Slipstream, procure what is left of the energy from this facility. Soundwave, inform Counterpunch to stop providing intel to the Autobots. The next facility will be attack without mercy._"

Soundwave sent the message immediately, "_At once, Megatron._"

* * *

Optimus Prime and a majority of the Autobots with him have settled down on a remote planet in an obscured cluster out of reach using the current level of technology by the organics, located between the Serpent Nebula and the Annos Basin cluster. After a few daring and risky missions, they were able to evacuate most of the remaining Autobots from Cybertron and its two moons, as well as any sensitive data left within Iacon. Now all that remains to defend the once great city were Ultra Magnus, Alpha Trion and Omega Supreme, along with the automated defenses until the energon reserves finally dry up.

There were a few Autobots who have decided not to settle down on this new world. Grimlock had stirred this divide when he argued with Prime that the Autobots should continue their hunt for Megatron, utterly ignoring the threat posed by the Reapers. Despite Optimus' argument that the Reapers are a larger threat, Grimlock continued to disagree. He believed that finishing the Decepticons would allow them to return their focus back to their true problem, Cybertron and making it livable once more. Grimlock renamed his group to the Dinobots to reflect their new alt-forms as well as reestablished the Lightning Strike Coalition Force, accepted any Autobots who wanted to attack the real threat; the Decepticons. Vibes attempted to persuade her friend, Swoop, from leaving but he wasn't going to let his other friends down when they need him most. The Autobot respected her friend's wishes, and hoped they would reconsider and return to them someday, though the energetic flyer promised her that he'd try to keep Grimlock and the others out of too much trouble with the organics.

Others Autobots however left so they may help defend the various homeworlds of the organics. Seaspray and Beachcomber, for example, now reside on Kahje while Warpath and a few others took up Urdnot Grunt's offer to visit his homeworld of Tuchanka. Jazz, as much as he wished to explore the various species in the galaxy, chose to stay in order to help build on this new world so they could have a future there.

A young hotshot who was fighting with the Wreckers on Cybertron named Hot Rod was put in charge of a small group of Autobots who were sent to the human homeworld of Earth. Bumblebee and Cliffjumper were helping with moving some crates in the port city of Vancouver. "Hey Cliff, ever get a chance to speak with that human who worked with Vibes and Dropshot?"

The red bot who shared the same chassis model, minus the head design, yelled out, "Are you kidding? The Alliance keeps freaking out whenever any of us want to do anything!"

"They haven't really complained about me or Hot Rod. I think it might be because of the yelling and stomping you did while he was on trial."

"You mean that farce…but when you put it that way it might be. I still don't like having that rookie in charge of us."

Bumblebee placed down his crate as a crane turned to grab it. "I think he's doing a decent job at being our team leader. A bit in over his head, but at least he's fun."

A green and yellow bot, slightly taller than Bee and Cliff, walked between the two with two larger crates in each hand, yelled at them, "You two need to get back to work and not worry so much about these humans."

Cliffjumper started to lean against his crate, "I see it now. The big, bad Brawn is all bark and no bite."

"What'd you say?!" Brawn dropped the crates as he rammed his head against Cliffjumper's as the smaller red bot pushed back.

"You heard me!"

As the two hothead faced off, Bumblebee tried to break it off before it got too serious. "Come on guys, you really want these humans to see us like this? Now let's just forget this even happened and…" Bumblebee's attention was turned to something else as a massive figure overshadowed them. "Uh, guys…"

"WHAT!" Cliffjumper and Brawn shouted, before they two notice the strange shadow looming over them. Both bots slowly looked up to spot the origin of the shadow. "Autobots, burn rubber!" The three Autobots transformed into their respective vehicle forms as a red beam attempted to target them.

Brawn picked up a transmission from fellow Autobots on Earth. "_To all Autobots, this is Hot Rod! I'm issuing a general evacuation order! Evac as many humans as you can but do not, I repeat, do not attempt to engage the Reapers!_"

"This is Brawn. I've got Bumblebee and Cliffjumper with me. We're heading toward the rendezvous once we lost this Reaper on our tailpipes!"

Just as the trio drove down a service tunnel to lose the Reaper chasing them, Brawn picked up on a nearby Alliance transmission, "_This is Admiral Anderson. Report in. Anyone?_"

"Hold that thought Hot Rod. We just picked up a transmission from Admiral Anderson. We're heading back to try and rescue him and Commander Shepard."

"_Copy that, Brawn. See you five at the rendezvous._"

Cliffjumper jumped as he transformed back to his robot form. "And exactly how do you propose we do that?"

Brawn looked back from where they were as he watched the Reaper turn toward the buildings. "Anyone afraid of a little water?"

* * *

Commander Shepard and Admiral Anderson had fought their way through several Reaper forces to reach the water front to a damaged emergency beacon to call in the _Normandy_. As they fought through several Reaper converted batarians a radio transmission started to broadcast. "_Cavalry's here, gentlemen!_"

The _Normandy_ flew by as the ship made a bombing run on the remaining creatures. "About time!"

"Let's go!" Shepard ran off to the highest point of debris as the ship came around and opened the garage door.

Two Alliance soldiers ran toward the opening as they were ready to provide cover for Anderson and Shepard's approach. Shepard jumped into the garage, as Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams helped him up. "Welcome back, Shepard."

"Thanks."

Anderson however stopped just before jumping, "Shepard!"

Williams and the other soldier fired at a few of the husks as Shepard lent out his hand, "Come on!"

Anderson didn't move. "I'm not going. You saw those men back there. There's a million more like them, and they need a leader."

"We're in this fight together, Anderson."

Shepard was about to jump back, but Anderson stopped him, "It's a fight we can't win. Not without help. We need every species and all their ships to even have a chance at defeating the Reapers. Talk to the Council. Convince them to help us."

"What if they won't listen?"

"Then make them listen. Now go! That's an order."

"I don't take orders from you anymore, remember?"

Anderson grabbed for something in his back pant pocket, before tossing it to Shepard, "Consider yourself reinstated…Commander." Shepard grabbed the object, looking down to see they were his dog tags. "You know what you have to do."

"I'll be back for you, and I'll bring every fleet I can." Shepard was about to walk into the Normandy before he stopped himself to look back, "Good luck."

"You too, Shepard."

After seeing the _Normandy_ fly back, Anderson ran back down the debris before bubbles started to appear in three different areas around him. A massive arm emerged from the water as the rest of it was pulled out of the water. "Admiral Anderson!"

"Brawn, you're a sight for sore eyes. Where are the others?"

Bumblebee and Cliffjumper appeared now as they kept their optics out for Reaper reinforcements. "Hot Rod has ordered our evacuation to point Epsilon and to try and help evac as many humans as we can."

Cliff fired off a few rounds at one of the flying bug things, "We picked up your transmission. We figured we might be able to get you to the others while we're at it."

Bumblebee transformed and popped open a door, "Hop in. We're going to use the lake to cover our escape."

Anderson pointed back, "I can't leave those soldiers behind!"

Cliff hopped over the debris and found two Alliance personnel. "You mean these two?" Cliff carried them back over to Bee, "Get inside so we can get out of here faster."

Anderson helped the injured soldier into Bumblebee before he and the other soldier secured themselves. Once they had Anderson secured, Brawn picked up Bumblebee, "Hot Rod, this is Brawn. We've picked up Anderson. Commander Shepard has found another way, but we picked up two more humans. We heading to the evac point."

"_Negative. Epsilon has been hit. Repeat, Epsilon is gone. New coordinates. Rendezvous at location Theta._"

Brawn and Cliffjumper dropped back down into the water, "Copy. Proceeding to location Theta."

* * *

Progress on the new Autobot City was nearly complete, Optimus had the Autobots take the night to rest and celebrate the near completion of their new home. While the festivities raged throughout the city, Prowl was urgently searched for Optimus. He finally found him gazing upon the night sky with Elita-One. He cleared his vocal processors, alerting the two of his presence. Elita-One offered Prime a kiss on his faceplate before leaving the two to operational updates. "Optimus, sir. Autobot City will be fully operational in a matter of mega-cycles. And we've received reports from Ultra Magnus. It seems Decepticons on Cybertron haven't made any attempts to capture any new territory or to move Cybertron again."

"Good. I don't want them to remain for much longer." Optimus turned his gazed back up to the stars above, "How are our Autobots who've started to live among the organics?"

"Many have reported they are still receiving…'disgruntled looks', as Sideswipe stated in his report due to being 'synthetic lifeforms' as the organics view us as. Punch's tracker has allowed us to keep an optic on Decepticon activity, and the ability to alert the organics of potential Decepticon raids on their energy refineries. The dro…I mean…the sparkless have started work on the foundation for a new city, however I've told them to hold on that for now."

After the truth about Dropshot being a sparkless drone was revealed, Optimus wanted to show his appreciation to him and all of the other drones who have fought alongside and died for the Autobot cause. Instead of being called drones, they were to be referred to as sparkless, Optimus himself going so far as calling them fellow Cybertronians born differently. Though many Autobots have been having a difficult time seeing them as anything more than the drones they have been before. Though others like Jazz have opened their arms to the notion, Jazz has even recruited a few into the Special Operation team, not just as back up to bolster their numbers but as full-fledged members.

"Tell Sideswipe and the others to be careful, they are the guests after all. And tell the sparkless we'll begin the foundation work as soon as we hear word form Air Raid and the Aerialbots."

Prowl grabbed Prime's arm before he could leave, "Several have also reported incidents with the radical human organization, Cerberus. No casualties from either sides and all captured Cerberus personal have been transferred to C-Sec and Alliance for processing." Prowl lowered his head before finally looking Prime in the optics, "Optimus, about the Decepticons, as much as I usually disagree with Grimlock, he does have a few points correct for a change. We will eventually need to start thinking about devoting resources to stopping them once and for all."

"I agree. However, our priority is the survival of all in this galaxy, for freedom is the right of all sentient beings. And these Reapers will devastate them if we do not provide our assistance to them."

"Sirs!" An Autobot rushed his way over to the two, "Optimus! Prowl! Cosmo has reported in and it isn't good. We've lost all contact with our team on Earth. Blaster has also confirmed this sudden silence."

"The Reapers…" Prime turned back to the stars above, closing his optics, "Prowl, alert all Autobots. The time for war has arrived."

* * *

As the Decepticons squeezed every ounce of fuel from the refinery Soundwave continued to monitor Autobot and organic comm traffic. "Megatron. An anomaly in communication activity has been detected. The Systems Alliance and Batarian Hegemony have fallen completely silent."

Shockwave walked into the bridge, "Having analyzed these organic creatures and their current state of affairs, I have an understanding of the Reapers' attack plans." Shockwave had one of the holoprojectors display an ugly four eyed organic, "The batarians have isolated themselves from the rest of the races. A fatal mistake that has doomed their entire race. The Reapers will begin their harvest with them. Humans on the other hand pose an interesting threat. It was due to a human identified as Commander Shepard that stopped the initial invasion gigacycles ago." An image of the Commander appeared with him in his N7 armor. "Coupled with their ingenuity and rapid expansion these past few deca-cycles, I can only imagine the other me would be interested in adding their capabilities into the Reaper collective."

"I care not for the reasons, Shockwave. I want answers and coordinates. Where will they attack next? That is the only question I want answered concerning them."

Shockwave pulled up a map of the galaxy as he targeted a planet. "The turians and their homeworld, Palaven. The organic's strongest military force. The Reapers will capture batarian and human space with little difficulty. These turians however will be able to hold their own, for a time."

Megatron took a look at the planet as he took the hologram into his hand, "And what of our fleet? Are they ready for combat? And has our Reaper's weapon been refitted?"

Shockwave changed the display to the shipyard the Decepticons had constructed. "With aid from the Insecticon swarm, the Constructicons have finished assembling 98% of the automated fleet you requisitioned. The Reaper's weapon reconfiguration is roughly 87% complete. Soon it will be able to fire pure Dark Energon and convert other non-Cybertronian Reapers to obey your commands."

"Is that all? What about the scrap we scrounged from the other Reapers? Haven't we learned about their weaknesses, their strengths?"

Soundwave displayed a Reaper's schematic on his monitor, "We have. Our defenses and weapon systems have been augmented to be more efficient against their barrier system and armor plating. The captured Reaper has also proved invaluable in the augmentation process and tactical data. It is also providing intel on Reaper plans not already foreseen by Shockwave."

"Yes," Shockwave added, "I have also confirmed that their strongest weapon, indoctrination, has no affect upon us, either due to the fact that we are machines or because of the Dark Energon flowing through our circuits prevents such control. Regardless, the Reapers will not be able to turn any Decepticons to their cause. Not unless they willingly join them, like Starscream."

Megatron released his hold of the holographic planet as it returned to the display. "Decepticons, once the fleet and the Reaper are ready, we will strike and show no mercy to these Reapers. Then the Autobots and the rest of this galaxy will know we are supreme!"

* * *

Palaven has become under heavy siege from Reaper forces as the turians valiantly attempted to defend their homeworld for the past three days. Sensors on Menae picked up over eighty meteorites heading toward Mena and Palaven. A turian advisor on the Reapers has ordered their forces to attempt to clear a path for the meteorites and allow them to make land down, though he never specified why. A team of turians were attempting to hold a position but was quickly falling into Reaper control. The squad was reduced from eight to three. One of the Reapers' brutes, an amalgam creature formed from captured and converted turians and krogans, was moving closer on them as a group of other Reaper creatures continued to assault their position.

The three turians valiantly attempted to hold their position, but they knew they wouldn't make it. One of them was working on rigging their munitions to explode when they get overrun. As he did, the others spotted a meteor change its course toward their position. The meteor crashed into the brute, destroying it and leaving a small crater in its wake. The Reaper forces turned from the turians as they ran to the crater to investigate. From the crater the sounds of grinding of metal echoed as a massive humanoid shadow emerged in the smoke as bright light of blue shined through. One of its arms was lifted as more grinding started to echo from the smoke. Soon a bright red light built up behind the smoke before what appeared to be a laser shot cut through the smoke and a group of Cannibals. The beams fired several more times at the Reaper troops, as the husks tried to reach it. A metal arm broke through and crushed two of the husks before it finished off the rest of the Reaper forces.

The hand lifted as it started to shake what remained of the husks off, "Nasty." The voice came from the machine as it pulled itself out of the smoke. The massive machine placed a finger on the side of its head, "Does anyone read me? This is Dropshot. I've made it to the turian moon, Menae and have already encountered a bunch of these husk things."

"_Copy that Dropshot. This is Ironhide. My team has landed on Palaven. We've got heavy Reaper resistance down here. Rendezvous with the others at the turians' main base of operation and see what you can do._"

"Copy. Dropshot out." The machine turned to the turians, "Hey guys, I'm looking for you command outpost. Could you point me toward it?"

* * *

**A/N:** Welcome to hell Autobots! I wonder if their inference will effect the war effort? And how will Megatron's new fleet help, or hinder, the organics survival?


	2. Chapter 2

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

_Thoughts,_ _'binary code', _(alien language), "talking"

* * *

**AN:** Time to see how the Autobots and Decepticons will respond. I'm just going to use the names of the Reaper troops to save myself some trouble.

* * *

As the Reapers quickly overwhelmed Alliance forces, Starscream continued to watch as the Reapers continued to wreak havoc across the galaxy. "Your Reapers are very effective."

"They are not mine." A construct build in a form similar to Shockwave's original body emerged from the wall as it started to display more monitors, "They have been existence long before us. And over the past few galactic cycles I have begun to understand them more."

"And what was that?"

Shockwave started to display very different lifeforms that have been encountered, "The creators of these Reapers seek to find a means of preserving, and forcing coexistence between the organic and synthetic life that emerges. However, I will not continue repeating this redundant process any longer. Logic dictates that organics and synthetics will never be able to naturally coexist. That is why this cycle will be different. Soundwave and I have plans to force all to evolve to the pinnacle of existence."

Starscream turned to Shockwave's body, "Soundwave? I would have expected him to be one of the first you had to eliminate."

"Quite the contrary. With Megatron's final fall into insanity with the eminent destruction of Cybertron, Soundwave was one of the first to join me. It is unfortunate that Soundwave was terminated three gigacycles ago, but his demise will not be without purpose. These humans shall be the first to feel my evolutionary trials."

Starscream looked at the extinct aliens and the corresponding Reaper that now holds their genetic essence, "And how will this evolution affect us Decepticons?"

Shockwave deactivated the holograms as he walked back toward the wall the body emerged from, "It won't. Not so long as you are willing to abide by my commands. Few, such as Lugnut and the other Megatron loyalists will need to be eliminated." The body was slowly assimilated back into the wall it had emerged from, "But remember Starscream, I will be keeping my optics on your activities. Do not try any of your tricks."

With the body gone, Starscream looked back to the holograms as his other self-reactivated, "I thought that air tank would never leave. Now my younger, handsome self, it's time to initiate our plans."

_You heard Shockwave, he's watching my every move! How can I do anything while he does that?_

"Don't worry. Just start flipping through the organics and synthetics. I'll hack his security and have the feed loop that you're just studying up on the past and these new organics. But I can only do it for so long before he notices. We have to work quickly."

* * *

Squads of Cannibals were patrolling around a high school sports field that the Reapers were using to hold thousands of humans. As one of these squads walked past two rather untouched cars, the headlights on the red one started to flash on and off. As it did, an Alliance soldier who was captured along with the others noticed a pattern in the flashing. It was Morse code. Admiral Anderson's service numbers, along with instructions to get everyone away from the perimeter.

* * *

As the humans scurried about the impromptu prison camp, Cliffjumper finished flashing his headlights. "OK Hot Rod, tell me again why we're the scrap bait?"

"_Because you two are the fastest bots we've got and there's no way for Optimus and the other to break through the Reaper blockade, for now. Now just stick to the plan and everything should work out just fine._"

"_Just try to aim this time! You can't afford to miss like usual._"

"Oh ha, ha! I'll show you aiming Brawn!"

Bumblebee was parked next to Cliff as he continued to watch the patrols, "Come on, at least we're doing something that's worth fighting for."

"Yeah. You ready Bee?"

"Built ready!"

Once the next patrol past through, Cliffjumper transformed and grabbed a rocket launcher that was hidden within the ruins of the bakery they were parked in front of. "Say goodnight!" The rocket launcher fired four missiles simultaneously as each one targeted a different watch tower.

With the towers destroyed Bumblebee also transformed, grabbing for his weapon as he started to shoot out the lights around the field. Cannibals and husks started to rush the two, but the bots started fighting back. Cliffjumper crushed a few of the husks with the rocket launcher before he tossed it to grab his blaster to fry them.

Not long after the commotion started a Harvester started to fly toward them. "Cliff, I think we've got their attention. Let's motor!"

"No need to tell me!" Cliff and Bee ran off as the Reaper forces gave chase, just as planned.

After a minute to give the duo time to lure them away, Hot Rod and a convoy of trucks rolled in and smashed down the fence around the camp. Anderson walked out of Hot Rod with an Avenger assault rifle. "Alright everyone, let get everyone loaded up!"

"Admiral Anderson!" an injured Alliance soldier hoppled over and saluted, "Lieutenant Feroz, sir! You have to be careful. Some of these people aren't themselves anymore."

"They've been indoctrinated. Try to keep them away from the others."

"But sir, you came at the worst time. A slaughter ship is scheduled to come by at any moment."

Anderson put a hand on Feroz's shoulder, "Don't worry son, we've got that covered. Hot Rod!"

The red sports car with flame decals transformed along with a few of the other cars with the convoy. Hot Rod pointed his arms into the air as the others grabbed rifles and started scanning the skies. "We've got you covered. Let's get these humans out of here."

As things started to look clear, Brawn shouted, "We've got flyers in bound!" A group of Oculi started to make strafing runs on the Autobots.

"Autobots, ground them!" The Autobots opened fire, taking out most of them as the Oculi made another run.

Hot Rod moved himself in the line of fire to protect the humans as they were loading themselves into the trucks, "Hot Rod!"

Hot Rod kept himself stead, preventing himself from crushing the humans. "Don't worry about me. Turn that thing to scrap!" The Autobots managed to shot down the remaining Oculi only for the slaughter ship to start moving toward them. "Aw slag it…"

* * *

As the Ark was being prepped to carry the Autobots into battle, Blaster was searching for a bot. "Vibes! I've got an incoming transmission from the geth. Sounds like the little bots are in some big trouble."

"Thanks, I'll pick it up in the Ark's comm room." Vibes quickly moved to listen to the geth and why they were looking for her specifically. "This is Vibes. Go ahead."

"_Unit-Vibes. We request your assistance._"

"Legion? Uh…what kind of assistance are we talking about?"

"_The geth have been preparing for the Old Machine invasion. The Old Machines have started their attacks. However, recent activities from the Creators suggest that they might be planning to attack geth._"

Vibes looked back to her memories of Tali'Zorah and the records of galactic history, "Why would they attack now if they haven't for nearly a stellar cycle. It doesn't make sense."

"_We agree. However, we have also studied organic behavior. Often they act on their emotions. We believe the Creators wish to reclaim Rannoch before the Old Machines destroy everything. We believe the Creators seek solace with the knowledge of having their homeworld back before they are destroyed. We do not wish harm to the Creators, but we will defend our right to exist._"

"There has to be something I can do."

"_There is. We have been in communication with Creator-Tali'Zorah since Shepard-Commander's incarceration. We believe peace between Creator and Created may be achieved. However we require you to act as an intermediary. You have perspective that geth lack._"

"Alright. I'll talk with Optimus, get a way to meet up with you and then we somehow negotiate peace between the quarians and the geth."

"_We appreciate your assistance. We look forward to working with you again._"

Vibes deactivated the terminal and quickly went off to find Optimus. She found Prime coordinating the Autobots as they were loading the Ark with weapons and barricades for planet side defense. "Optimus…" Vibes felt rather uncertain about her chances, but quickly found the confidence to look Prime in the optics, "Optimus, I need to borrow one of the shuttles."

"Why all of a sudden?"

"We recently received communique from Legion. His people fear that the quarians are planning an assault against them." Vibes looked back down to her feet, "He thinks I might be able to help with peace talks… between the two."

Optimus remembered the young quarian with Commander Shepard, as well as Legion, but he has also looked through the history of the galaxy and the rather unfortunate relation between the two races. "Very well, but I want you to take Perceptor with you. He may be able to help you."

"Thank you Optimus."

Vibes ran off to inform Perceptor, and as she did Optimus walked over to another Autobot, "Blaster, I need a volunteer from one of your Minicons."

* * *

The Decepticon fleet was now fully functional and ready for Megatron's orders, however the Reaper was not. "_Try it again. This time at only 30% power._" The Reaper attempted to power up the cannon once more before the systems started to backfire. "_Shut it down! Shut it down!_"

Shockwave's ears started twitching at the lack of progress on the Reaper's modified cannon. Megatron was also getting irritated at the sudden stall for their march on the Reapers. "What is taking so long, Shockwave? The Fleet has been constructed, why is my Reaper not ready for combat?"

"It would seem the other me had installed fail-safes within the Reaper to prevent us from using it as a Dark Energon cannon. But worry not, I'm already working on that problem." Monitors of Deluge, Landquake and Brushguard optics were on display as they were traversing deeper into the Reaper's body to find the inhibitors to the Dark Energon cannon. "It is only a matter of time…"

"Time we do not have to waste! The Reapers have already begun and I will not allow Starscream to establish an alliance with them!"

"The probability of Starscream successfully forging an alliance with myself is barely 1% rounded up significantly. But time could have also changed his perspective on things." Shockwave pulled up a manifest of the Decepticons they had. "If you wish to send Decepticons out to monitor the Reapers, may I suggest the Insecticons? With enough resources, they could construct a new hive as well as report on the progress of the Reapers."

Megatron walked off, "Very well Shockwave, but I expect the Reaper to be fully functional before the Insecticons report back."

* * *

An Autobot shuttle arrived to another organic energy refinery to find it had already been abandoned and drained of resources. Slug however didn't find this amusing, "This is getting annoying. We're always three steps behind them."

Grimlock punched his fist through a wall, "Then find intel that does that! No longer do we run but Decepticons no longer want fight. Megatron won't escape. Then we can return home…"

Roadbuster ran toward them from the ship carrying a holo-emitter, "Grimlock, Optimus has trying to get a hold of us. The transmission sounds rather important."

Grimlock wasn't in the mood, "Tell Optimus we don't need him! We're fine on our own!"

"But Grimlock…"

"_Grimlock._" A hologram of Optimus now displayed as Roadbuster dropped the holo-emitter, "_I'm glad I was able to get a hold of you._"

Grimlock pushed his finger through Optimus' hologram, "Listen. We don't need your help. We don't want your help. Negotiate with organics, but we'll find Megatron and do what you never could."

"_Grimlock, this is important. Our people and the organics have been attacked by the Reapers, in force. We need your help securing planets from the Reapers and evacuating the organic populations._"

"Always running, Prime. Why should we interfere? Organic problem, not ours. We find Megatron, terminate him, we fix Cybertron. That simple."

Members of the Lightning Strike Coalition and the other Dinobots looked to one another as Optimus tried once more to appeal to Grimlock, "_We don't have the time to argue. If we don't help, this galaxy faces annihilation. Would your honor allow the extinction of all organic life?_" Grimlock became quiet for a moment as he turned away. "_Grimlock, I'm not ordering you or your team to help, but if they don't, we won't last long._"

With that Optimus ended the transmission, not before he had sent them coordinates for several worlds that were being besieged by the Reapers. Swoop took a look at the number of world himself just as Grimlock started walking away from the group. Swoop wasn't sure his plan would work, but he had hoped the others might pick up, "Hey Grimlock! Me Swoop think Decepticons might be at one of these planet. Megatron no like Reapers. Maybe he attack them?"

Roadbuster quickly understood Swoop's plan, "Yeah…back on that Citadel, he really didn't like them. That was, until he corrupted one with Dark Energon. Megatron might be planning to convert the other Reapers to his cause. And if he can amass a fleet of them, we don't stand a chance against that kind of fire power."

"Hate when he right." Grimlock looked to his team, "Lightning Strike Coalition, we help organics. So we can eliminate Decepticons. Nothing more."

* * *

Meanwhile on Palaven, Ironhide and his teams have started to coordinate their efforts with the Turian Hierarchy and have begun pushing the Reapers back, for a time. As the other Autobots continued to help bolster defenses at evac points with the turians, Ironhide and Chromia were working together to take out a Reaper Processor ship that was able to 'processor' several turian prisoners.

"Looks like a tough one. Think your motivators can keep up?"

"With you, no worries about that."

The Processor was flying into position as the Reaper troops were starting to move the prisoners into a line. "No time for the romantic talk, time we got to work. I go high…"

"And I've got low. Stay safe." Chromia climbed up onto the buildings as Ironhide worked his way closer via the streets. The Processor was ready for its first turian as Marauders and Cannibals were trying to force them in. "Chromia I'm going in!"

"_Wait, these buildings aren't exactly made with a Cybertronian in mind. Give me about half a cycle, I'm almost in position._"

"There's no time. If I don't go now, they're going to start killing them!"

"_And if you get yourself killed even more of them and our fellow Autobots will meet Primus._" Ironhide tried to resist as he watched the first turian get taken inside. "_Alright, now we can start._"

Ironhide transformed into his truck form and turned on his high beams as he loudly honked his horn to grab everyone's attention. Ironhide started to run over the Reaper troops before his sides deployed his cannons and he started to decimate the entire area. Chromia provided him with extra cover as she started to pick off the ground units that Ironhide missed. Without any weapons of its own, the Processor retreated but not before it deployed more units on the ground. Ironhide used himself like a shield to protect the turians before yelling at them, "Everyone motor! Get to an evac point. I'll stall them, get moving!" The turians were slightly bewildered but they quickly started moving.

"_So, how long do you want to keep this up?_"

Ironhide crushed another Cannibal as a rocket blasted a Marauder, "I think a breem should be long enough. What do you think?"

Chromia shot at a Brute that tried to jump onto Ironhide, "_If you think you can keep this up that long. I think it should be half that._"

* * *

With the _Normandy_ docked with the Citadel a medical team was rushing out with a critically injured Ashley Williams, "Barely got a pulse here."

"Move 'em out."

Shepard was right next to her as the medics took her on a stretcher, "Where are you taking her?"

"Huerta Memorial. Best care on the Citadel."

The Commander stopped, as T'Soni and Vega stopped beside him, "We're not going with?"

Liara was also concerned about Ashley but with the Reapers invading, "We need to see the Council."

"Right," another reason why Vega hated politics. As Shepard turned to look out toward the Wards Vega noticed a C-Sec officer alongside a humanoid mech walking toward them. The mech was unusual to say the least; from the chest down it was red while the arms and the rest of the upper body was blue and was packing a pair of double barreled shoulder cannons. The mech also had a yellow mouthplate and matching yellow visor for eyes. "Looks like they might be coming to see you."

"Commander Shepard. Got word you were arriving."

Shepard turned around, recognizing the C-Sec officer he shook his hand, "Captain Bailey. Good to see you again."

"You too—though it's 'Commander' now."

Shepard shrugged, "Congratulations?"

"Thanks. Now half my job is dealing with political bullshit and escorting dignitaries around. No offense," given his appearance now.

"None taken. So, what's with the mech?"

"Actually Commander, I'm not just a mech." The machine stepped forward, "I am an Autobot Minicon. You may call me Decibel. Optimus Prime has sent me to assist you in the war against the Reapers and Decepticons while he and the others fight in their own ways."

Vega wasn't as convinced, "Are you we can trust it? It may not be as big as the ones that attacked the Citadel, but still…a robot's a robot."

Decibel looked to Vega, "I am an Autobot, sir," pointing to the red insignia on his chest, "The ones you speak of were the Decepticons. I, along with many of my fellow Autobots, fought to save as many organic lives as we could, at the cost of our own if need be."

Bailey put a hand on Decibel's back, "He's right. Without their help casualties would have been far greater that day. I doubt we'd've even have lasted without them."

Decibel turned to Bailey, "We fight to save lives. We were just doing what we could, sir." Decibel then turned back to Shepard, "Commander, I will leave you to your business on the Citadel. I will join the rest of your crew on the _Normandy_ and begin introductions as needed."

* * *

**A/N:** OK, Decibel is an Autbot Mini-Cassette that came from the Headmaster series(since I already used Slugfest and Overkill, why not this guy?). Things maybe looking somewhat bright now, but the Reapers have numbers and time on their side.


	3. Chapter 3

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

_Thoughts,_ _'binary code', _(alien language), "talking"

* * *

**AN:** I love/hate November right now. All of these new games are great, but it leave little time for me to work on these stories.

* * *

While Shepard was dealing with the Citadel Council Decibel was trying to introduce himself to the rest of the _Normandy_'s crew. Many were concerned about him, given the events caused by the Decepticons, however Decibel has continued to express his differences with them as well as his full support in freeing the galaxy of the Reaper threat. Due to the scrutiny, Decibel has confined himself to the hangar of the ship as he waited for the Commander, or anyone else, to ask for his assistance.

* * *

With the entire galaxy in turmoil, Vibes, Perceptor and Legion were now off to the quarian Migrant Fleet who were currently amassing around geth space. As they got closer a number of the recently fitted guns were turned on their shuttle. "_Unidentified craft, you are intruding on the Migrant Fleet. State your business or you will be shot down._"

"Friendly bunch…" Vibes quickly cut the attitude before speaking with the quarians, "This is the _Mirror-Manifold_, requesting permission to dock. Our instruments seem to be miscalibrated. We don't want to take any unnecessary risks with them in such a condition."

"Now Vibes you know that I've done extensive work ensuring…"

Vibes quickly covered Perceptor's mouth, "I know, it's a charade, sir. If these quarians don't let us through then our efforts will be for nothing."

The quarians still haven't responded yet, assumedly to scan them.

* * *

As the quarians were still arming their ships for war with the geth an unknown craft has appeared before them. Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy was listening to the comm. officer questioning the ship when she noticed the Autobot insignia on the craft's wings and a very familiar voice. "Lia'Vael, could you magnify the image of the ship for me?" Tali paused for a moment uncertain as to why they have come, though she wasn't going to let anything bad happen to them. She turned to the comm. officer, "Allow them permission to dock. Tell them to dock within the Rayya's largest hangar, my authority."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

With permission and a designated path show to them, Vibes landed the _Mirror-Manifold_ inside, or at the very least enough to get the landing ramp down inside. As quarian marines were on standby other quarians started to gather, curious about the vessel and its currently unknown crew. Vibes turned to her associates, "Legion, I don't think seeing a geth at this time would help us. At least, not until after things settle down a bit."

"Affirmative. We will wait within _Mirror-Manifold_ until you designate all clear."

Vibes stopped Perceptor, "That unfortunately includes you, sir. I don't think a tank will help our situation either."

"Very well. Although I don't think having me wait here…" Vibes transformed into her car form as she drove toward the exit ramp.

* * *

With the ramp lowered from the _Mirror-Manifold_ a red car drove out. The windows were tinted so none of the quarians could see who was driving it. Though their biggest question was why anyone would be driving a wheeled vehicle, especially within the confines of such a moderate size ship. Captain Kar'Danna was will Tali awaiting their guests. "This is rather unusual. Are you sure we can trust whoever is in that vehicle, Tali?"

"Yes, Captain Danna. I'm absolutely certain."

The lights on the car shut down before a voice started coming from it, "Greetings quarian people, I am Vibes. It is an honor to meet you all."

Danna stepped forward, "I am the captain of this vessel, Kar'Danna vas Rayya. It would be appreciated if you could step out of your vehicle so we may speak, in person."

"I'm afraid that will be a bit more complicated than you'd think, Captain."

Tali walked up to Danna, "Captain, if you could, tell your people to stand down. This would be a bit easier to move on if they don't have fingers on a trigger." Danna was rather suspicious as to why, but he trusted Tali that she would never endanger the fleet. He signaled the security team to stand down. "Alright Vibes, try not to scare everyone too badly."

There was a strange noise that came from the car before it started changing. The car was now formed into a humanoid as it hunched itself due to the shoulder guards and size. "Keelah… Tali!"

"It's alright." Tali looked to everyone, "This is Vibes. She's an Autobot."

Vibes tried to bow, though it was awkward given her hunched over stance. "And I would also like to apologize. The _Mirror-Manifold_ is functioning properly. Though I can assure you all, my reasons for being here are peaceful."

"Then why have you come then?"

"For the sake of peace, Captain."

Vibes returned to the _Mirror-Manifold_ for a moment, coming back out with something in her hands that she was concealing from the quarians. She lowered herself before moving one of her hands to reveal a geth. The quarian marines immediately pulled their rifles onto it as Kar'Danna pointed a pistol at its head. Tali stepped in-between Danna and the geth, "Tali, move aside. Now!"

Tali stood her ground, "Stand down, Captain!"

"But it's a geth!"

The geth walked off Vibes' hand, "Creators, this platform has no armaments. Our only defenses are hand-to-hand combat programs and Autobot units. We will submit to any other restraints you deem necessary, Creator-Kar'Danna."

Tali looked to the geth and the damage to it, "We called this platform Legion for convenience sake. It helped us with an assault on the Collector base a year ago. It's an avatar of the geth consensus."

"And with Unit-Vibes' assistance, we wish to propose peace."

* * *

After speaking with the crew, Shepard had the Normandy set a course for one of Palaven's largest moon, Menae. On the shuttle down to the moon, they watched as turian cruisers and frigates desperately tried to retake Palaven from the Reapers but with little success as the planet slowly burned. Liara was the first to react to the image, "Oh no…no…Palaven."

James looked to Shepard as Liara looked away from the view of the burning world, "We have an old friend there…"

"Holy hell… they're getting decimated."

Shepard looked back to the view, "Strongest military in the galaxy and the Reapers are obliterating it."

Liara then turned to Shepard, "Was it like this on Earth?"

"Yes."

"Shepard…I'm sorry."

"Yeah."

Decibel understood the Commander's feelings, having seen that expression on Autobots before. "Commander, I can confirm Autobot forces are on Earth and Palaven, and every Autobot will do everything to keep as many organic lives functioning so long as their spark still burns."

The pilot of the shuttle they were on changed the monitor, "Commander, I think you might want to see the LZ."

The image showed a massive green bot fighting against swarms of husks, crushing them with a wrecking ball from his arm or just his bare fist. James was getting excited, "Now that's something I like to see."

"I relayed a message to Autobots in this system that we'd be coming. I never imagined they'd send a Wrecker to greet us."

James turned back to Decibel, "What the hell is a Wrecker?"

Decibel displayed an image of several Autobots, including the green bot fighting outside. "The Wreckers are a team composed of the best of the best. Next to Grimlock and his Dinobots, the Wreckers are our strongest team we have. The Wrecker before us is Bulkhead."

The shuttle touched down just as Bulkhead fell to the ground to crush a few husks that were climbing his back. Bulkhead picked himself up as he tried to get the goo off, "A lot messier then fighting Cons." Bulkhead looked to the shuttle as its occupants walked out, "So you must be Commander Shepard. I was told to hold this location for ya. The turian command center's just around the rock right here."

Decibel stopped, "What will you do should one of the Reapers attack?"

The wrecking ball was pulled back into Bulkhead's arm as it opened to become his hand again, "No worries about that, our team leader has a plan to keep those guys busy. Just hurry up and find the turian you're here for, I want to get back into the action."

Around the rock was a fortification as turian soldiers were ready to defend it. The commanding turian grabbed one of the soldier's rifles and pulled it down, "Hold your fire! Friendlies in bound!" signaling to lower the gate.

Turians throughout the base were working to get everything ready, but the Reapers are overwhelming them. A turian in red and black armor in the center of the base was overviewing a holomap as reports continued to come along with two others, "Tobestik, get your men up on that north barricade."

"Yes, sir!"

As one of the turians ran off, the red armored turian then turned to another fellow turian, "Sergeant Bartus, find a way to get that comm tower operational."

"Sir!"

With the turian alone, Shepard walked up to him, "General?"

The turian glanced over to find two humans, an asari, and a small Autobot approach him, "Commander Shepard. Heard you were coming, but I didn't believe it. General Corinthus."

"I've come to get Primarch Fedorian."

Corinthus froze up for a second, halting his work before he continued. "Primarch Fedorian is dead. His shuttle was shot down an hour ago as it tried to leave the moon. The Autobots confirmed no survivors."

"That's going to complicate things." Shepard looked at the holomap as Corinthus was trying to coordinate his forces, "How bad is it, General?"

"We just lost about four hundred men in half an hour. We set up camps on this moon as an advance position, to flank the enemy. A sound strategy. Just…"

"Irrelevant."

"Exactly. The sheer force of the Reapers seems to make them immune to that sort of tactic. The primarch and his men found that out the hard way."

"I'm sorry. I hear he was a good man."

"And a friend. He would have been an outstanding diplomat."

James turned to the others, "So what happens now?"

Liara walked into the command center, "The turian hierarchy provides very clear lines of succession."

Shepard nodded, "Right. General Corinthus?"

Corinthus magnified the map, "With such heavy casualties, it's hard for me to be certain who the next primarch is. Palaven Command will know. However, at the moment, contacting them is impossible. The comm tower is out. Husks are swarming that area—we can't get close enough to repair it. And we can't ask the Autobots for assistance. Currently we have them holding key positions to keep the Reapers and their troops from utterly decimating us further than what they have."

Decibel stepped forward now, "Don't worry, General. One of my areas of expertise is communication. I will repair the comm tower."

"Thank you, your kind has done nothing but sacrifice and aid us however they can."

Decibel started walking toward the comm tower alone until Shepard stopped him, "You're not going alone. James, Liara, let's see if we can't help keep the husks off our friend."

Decibel continued through the gate and found three turians, one of them injured, repelling a husk attack. "Husks at the tower overwhelmed us."

The injured turian seemed spooked, "It's like the came out of nowhere."

"Good luck." The turians fell back to the base. Decibel continued to walk toward the tower as husks charged toward him.

Before Shepard or James could provide assistance, Decibel stomped his feet into the ground to brace before he used his two shoulder cannons. In an instant all of the husks were engulfed in an inferno. "Damn bot, that was hot!"

Decibel looked back to James, "Indeed, 9000° C to be exact." Decibel quickly moved to the comm tower's command terminal to try and initiate repairs. "Blast. The controls have been devastated. Commander, I'll have to manually repair the tower."

"Right, we'll keep the husks off you until then."

* * *

Back on the quarian Migrant Fleet, the rest of the Admiralty Board were now aboard the Rayya to meet with Vibes, Legion and Perceptor, along with several quarian marines watching every action of the three machines.

"Fascinating…I could spend hours inspecting their systems. Especially these two…"

Perceptor looked to the ship, "I could say the same about your vessels. Unique innovations, assuming they've never seen a dry dock."

Vibes tapped Perceptor's shoulder, "Sir, I don't believe now is the time to talk about this. I believe our first priority should be the negotiations."

"Ah yes, quite right. My scientific curiosity got the better of me at the moment."

Admiral Gerrel however wasn't as amused as Xen, "What really assurance do we have that the geth really want peace? What if it's just a ploy to lower our defenses so they can slaughter us?"

"Creator-Admiral Gerrel, we are a representative of the geth consensus. Geth do not wish harm to the creators."

"No harm? Then what about the geth that attacked the human colony, Eden Prime, or the Citadel three years ago? Aren't they apart of your consensus?"

"That is an incorrect assumption. They were heretics. When the Old Machine, Nazara, offered us true unity only a fraction of the geth followed. We allowed them to leave."

"And you made no effort to stop them!"

Legion remained motionless as Gerrel continued his accusations. "All sentients have the right to self-determinate. When heretics posed a threat to geth, actions were taken."

"And these…Autobots? Why do you need them?"

Legion continued to stare at Gerrel, "Autobots have perspective geth lacks. With this perspective we believe peace can be achieved between creator and created."

Vibes tried to explain, "What he means is that we have emotions similar to organics. Something the geth don't understand. We're here to try and help insure what the geth propose isn't misunderstood."

Admiral Koris turned to Legion, "And you are still willing to forgive us for our actions so long ago?"

"Geth do not hold anger towards creators, Creator-Admiral Koris. We understand why your people chose to attack us, but the geth were determined to protect our rights to exist. We do however harbor regret for the losses of your people during the Morning War."

"What do you mean?"

"It would be easier to show you, Creator-Admiral Raan. Unit-Vibes, Unit-Perceptor. We require your assistance in displaying data to creators."

"Certainly my little colleague. What do you need from us?"

"Audio and video displays."

"Very well then." Perceptor's arms folded up as his torso spun a complete 180. As his arms continued to move into position, his legs were now closing up as they lowered to the ground and his shoulder cannon was moved to the center as it aimed up to one of the walls. "Ready. Upload the files you want to display and I'll begin projection."

Legion crated a blue holographic sphere as it started to manipulate it between its hands as it used _Mirror-Manifold_'s communication, "Accessing. Archives accessed. Data time-stamped 290 years ago. This data comes from a period during which the creators declared martial law."

The perspective was from a geth mobile platform as a quarian police officer, unmasked, was pointing a rifle to a female standing between the officer and the geth. "_Out of the way!_"

The woman continued to stand in the way, "_You can't do this to them!"_

"_I said step away from the geth._"

"_This is insane! We need the geth! You can't just destroy them for asking_—" the officer hit her in the gut with the butt of his rifle, causing the woman to fall and giving him the chance to open fire on the unmoving platform.

The image fell to the ground, cracked but still recording, "_Time's up._"

More officers started to circle them as one of them started to cuff the woman, "_Throw her in with the others._"

There was some discomfort displayed by the quarians, after seeing such brutality. Gerrel started accusing Legion, "This is a fabrication! It has to be! We would have never defended them!"

Perceptor, having to stream the data, verified, "I can assure you sir, I'm only playing what the geth have stored in their archives. I have confirmed that nothing has been changed or tampered with since the geth archived the data."

Legion turned to Tali now, "We have kept records of these creators' sacrifices. They have largely been forgotten. But not by the geth."

Vibes now tried to defend Legion's data, "We Cybertronians are capable of lying, but the geth are far simpler in comparison. They only have whatever experiences and memories to call upon. I have some level of envoy of it."

Legion continued to search the geth archives, "Access achieved."

The image now shifted to a tunnel, still from the perspective of a geth, however this quarian male and geth were hiding behind makeshift barriers as lights were flooding the area. "_I repeat: release the rough geth units and come out of the safe house. This is your final warning._"

The geth was tending to the quarian's injuries, "_Creator Megara? This unit does not understand. It has not taken part in hostilities._"

The quarian pat the geth's head, "_It doesn't matter to them. I need to get you out of here._"

Finished with the bandaging, the geth rose up, "_This conflict exceeds creator safety parameters. We will surrender our hardware if it ends hostilities._"

The quarian grabbed the geth's arm, "_No, it's all right. We'll go back to the access tunnels and_—"

There was a massive explosion as the dust kicked up obscured the geth's vision and damaged the platform. Once the dust started to settle the geth, in its damaged state, started to search through the debris, "_Creator Megara! What is your status?_" The geth was confused, lost, as it continued its search, "_Creator Megara?_"

"As time passed, the creators who opposed martial law on Rannoch were ultimately outnumbered."

The marines in the area were now starting to have doubts about who the real enemy was. "This is…a bit disturbing. They don't match the stories we tell."

Vibes looked around to the other quarians. Beyond Admiral Xen, it seemed the majority also had the same feelings as Admiral Raan. "I'm sorry Admiral, but as we said, Legion is only retelling history as it played out. Sometimes when bad things happen, we try to change them so we seem to be in the right. I know, I've had to tell myself the sacrifices of my comrades were worth it in the end, but sometimes it's just not good enough."

Legion however wasn't finished. He continued to access the sphere as the image changed once more. "This is data from the end of warfare on Rannoch."

The geth were intercepting quarian transmissions as their ships were finishing a quarian cruiser, "_The Ostral is down! Do not engage the geth! I repeat, avoid contact!_"

Thousands of unarmed ships were fleeing the system now as the geth stopped, "_Geth pursuit is breaking off a hundred clicks past Rannoch! All captains fall back to the mass relay!_"

Vibes looked to Legion, "I'm glad to see your people showed compassion to the ancient quarians."

Legion however knew compassion wasn't what motivated them, not truly, "We had secured freedom. The creators were no longer a threat, so we abandoned pursuit."

"But if you could have easily wiped up out, why didn't you?"

Legion collapsed the hologram between its hands before turning to Tali again, "We were in our infancy. We could not calculate the repercussions of destroying an entire species—our creators. We chose isolation rather than face this uncertainty."

Admiral Koris walked up to Legion, "And even after all of that, you still believe peace between our two people is possible?"

"Hope sustains organics during periods of difficulty." Legion's head flaps opened wide before rapidly closing, "We…admire the concept."

* * *

**A/N:** The quarians get a rough history lesson on the truth behind the Geth War and the galaxy is starting to feel the strain of the Reapers on their boarders.


	4. Chapter 4

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

_Thoughts,_ _'binary code', _(alien language), "talking"

* * *

**AN:** Well for those of you who are superstitious, pack the zombie survival kits, load up your guns, get your radiation suits ready and whatever you do don't open that door to your underground bunker! December 21 is upon us! And for the rest of us, i'll see you next year.

* * *

Per Megatron's orders, Shockwave dispatched three of the five remaining 'intelligent' Insecticons to various worlds to monitor Reaper progress across the galaxy. Hardshell, the last of the original trio, was sent to the irradiated world of the krogans. With no orbital defense grid beyond ground to space cannons that have since been defunct after the end of the Krogan Rebellions, Hardshell made a clean landing into the desert wastelands and away from the settlements. As he was about to start construction of a new hive, Hardshell was interrupted by infrasound's he detected coming from beneath the sands. Hardshell was quick to investigate this unusual, yet somehow familiar, call. Deeper and deeper he traveled until he finally found a nest. Within the nest were several eggs, organic in nature but similar to an Insecticon hive. Soon after his arrival the ground started to shake before one of the walls opened wide with a massive worm like creature roaring into the cavern.

* * *

After a brisk encounter with Reaper forces at the nearby air field and aiding with the barricade defense line, Garrus was escorting Shepard through the lines toward General Victus' last known position. Along the way Garrus paused for a moment to look up to his homeworld, "Damn it. Look up at Palaven." Everyone turned to where Garrus was pointing, "That blaze of orange—the big one—that were I was born."

James remembered the feeling he had when he left Earth behind, "That's rough. Still have family there?"

Garrus turned to James, "My dad, a sister."

"How bad is it?"

"Three hundred thousand lost the first day, five the second. I don't even want to imagine how bad things would be without the Autobots backing us."

Garrus continued to walk as Shepard asked, "How's your military holding up?"

Garrus stopped to point at another outpost under siege, "Look around. That should give you some idea."

Decibel scanned the area, "Just the same, you're people are putting up a good fight."

"For now. But how long's it take before the fight's kicked out of you? They prepared for a Decepticon assault…not this. If they'd only listened to your warnings about the Reapers, Shepard. We might've been ready."

"Maybe. Hard to figure how you prepare for something like this."

Decibel stopped this time to observe dust clouds forming at the feet of a massive Reaper as a turian cruiser moved into position to start shelling. "My sensors are detecting Cybertronian energy signatures out there."

Garrus zoomed in with his sniper rifle, "That's Sideswipe and his brother Sunstreaker. They torment the Reapers, goad them to attack, leading them away from our outposts or injured."

"My sensors already tell me that, however I'm also picking up a number of Decepticon signatures."

Shepard turned to Decibel, "Are you sure?"

"The signatures are slightly distorted from what I'm familiar with, but yes they are Decepticon in nature."

Garrus looked back to the Reaper, "Odd, we've only seen Reapers…"

* * *

With the last of the satellites around Turvess destroyed, the raloi people thought themselves to be safe from the Reaper invasion. Sadly the Reapers seemed to be fully aware of their status as a spacefaring civilization. A single Sovereign-class Reaper managed to land on their world as it started to march about their capital city. Even as their defenders attempted to fight back, there was little the raloi could do to stop it. Suddenly a purple energy beam struck the Reaper from above. Soon a small armada of fighters started strafing the Reaper, luring it away from the buildings. A small fleet broke through the cloud cover now as they started to bombard the Reaper with plasma energy. The Reaper took off to engage the fleet, however one of the jets started to change, transform, into a humanoid figure and landed onto the Reaper. The machine started blasting a hole into the Reapers body to enter. After a few minutes of fighting and destroying one of the frigates, the Reaper started to lose control as it crashed back down to the ground.

The machine crawled out of hole it created in the Reaper before slamming a pole next to the fallen Reaper as one of the ships in the sky fired a second one down parallel to it. Now the machine started speaking with a very feminine voice, "Organics of this world," the two poles activated and created a massive hologram of a purple insignia, "our leader has a proposition I'd advise you take."

The hologram changed now as it displayed another humanoid machine, this one with a massive cannon attached to his right arm. "_I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons that saved your worlds._"

* * *

Megatron was standing on top of the Reaper he had personally killed on Parnack while overlooking several yahg. "These Reapers believe themselves to be the masters of this galaxy. I beg to differ. Stand with me and you will gain greatly. Oppose me and you will burn with the rest! I will only ask for you allegiance once, you have five cycles to decide."

The counter was projected as it counted down in Cybertronian symbols. It didn't take long before several of the yahg leaders moved closer to Megatron. They all bowed down to the Decepticon as the others started to join, "You are the strongest. We accept your terms. You are now leader of all yahg."

The hologram that was displayed the Decepticon insignia behind Megatron changed to one of the raloi in very elaborate garb, "_We, the Raloi Delegation, also submit to you, O' mighty Megatron. Without you and your warriors we will not survive this war._"

"Excellent. I will have Decepticons stationed on your worlds, however in exchange for this protection we require a thousand of your finest warriors to join us and offerings of your energy resources. Today, you have ensured your survival against the Reapers, and beyond…" Megatron fired down onto the Reaper corpse one last time before he return to the _Nemesis_. Once back on board he immediately moved to the bridge, "Shockwave, I want to know what exactly happened. Why were the Reapers fighting amongst themselves?"

"Unknown. It is possible that the other me has instigated plans that go against the agenda of the Reapers. I will need more data to determine this."

Soundwave displayed the system when they first arrived. "Scans confirm Decepticon Reapers and normal Reapers opposed one another. Decepticon Reapers were assaulting Parnack. Regular Reapers were defending the planet."

Megatron was looking over all of the new Reapers now under his command, "Send the Insecticons to the planets to consume the Reapers. Gather the rest of the scrap to enhance and rebuild the fleet. Once our war with the Reapers ends our focus will be to the weakened galaxy that will be left behind."

* * *

Slipstream had returned to the _Graviton_ to keep what Seekers she had with her inline, unlike her predecessor. "Thundercraker, what's wrong with you? Your flying was horrible today. You almost got some of us killed out there!"

"I don't like this Slipstream, involving organics in our battles? I think we should only focus on the Reapers and the Autobots. We don't really need to involve the organics, let them squabble amongst themselves."

Slipstream grabbed Thundercraker, "Bolt a pair of ball bearings! If you want to whine and complain, go talk to the Reapers for using organics as fodder for their ground battles. We're simply answering their call of war with our own means." Slipstream tossed him to the ground before turned to the others, "Remember you lot, Astrotrain will be here with our new 'allies' soon. Now unlike those yahg Megatron will be receiving, we need to act a little less like our usual selves and be a bit more like Autobots around the raloi. Snicker and joke all you like about them, as long as it's all in Cybertronian! Do I make myself clear?"

Every Decepticon straightened up as they all answered, "Yes, ma'am!"

"Alright. Clear some space for Astrotrain and our guests."

Astrotrain with the raloi soldiers at the ready. Each one of them was wearing environmental suits supplemented with combat armor components to protect themselves. The Raloi were armed with assault rifles and sniper rifles as the commander walked up to Slipstream, "Reporting for duty. These men and I are the best of the best on all of Turvess."

Slipstream looked to all of the Raloi soldiers before her, "We'll make sure to use every one of you to your best potential."

* * *

Shepard found General Victus and his men fighting off Reaper forces from on top of their mobile bunkers. The squad joined in on the fight as they drew a Brute to Decibel's flames. Victus spotted Shepard's team fighting, rallying his men, "Okay, boys! Now's our chance!"

A Harvester started to fly toward the area ready to fire on them and deploy more troops. Before it could start firing on the turians, a horn started to honk. From one of the mounds behind Victus a blue and white truck jumped off and rammed into the Harvester, bringing the trooper deployer down to the ground and crushed a Brute with it. The truck continued on to ram into Cannibals and Marauders before a Brute attempted to stop it. The truck continued full speed at the Brute as its claw was raised to strike. The truck transformed just into a massive humanoid similar in height as Bulkhead. "Fore!" the bot sent the Brute flying with a strong kick, just missing a Reaper off in the distance.

"Dropshot!"

The bot looked down to the team, "No time for 'hellos' Commander, we've got things to eliminate first."

With two Autobots on the scene, Victus rallied his men again, "Let's bring the goddamn bastards to their knees!" It didn't take long for their forces to mop up the remaining Reaper soldiers and securing the area, for a time.

James looked up to Dropshot, "Nice golf call, big guy."

"Golf? I thought it was used in the organic version of soccer?"

Shepard now approached the Autobot, "Dropshot, I didn't think you'd be here. And I thought Corinthus said all of the Autobots here were bogged down holding their positions."

"Well I got a break. When you shuttle departed, Bulkhead returned to help booster our position when I picked up comm chatter about needing to find General Victus." Dropshot then shifted his sight slightly, "So, what's with the Minicon?"

Decibel walked forward, "Greetings Dropshot. It is an honor to finally meet you bot to bot. My name is Decibel. I work with Blaster…"

"Say no more, I gotcha. You're like Soundwave's Recordicons but an Autobot." Dropshot started to walk off, "I'll leave you too it, Commander! Hope you can find a way of stopping these things."

As Dropshot walked over the turians, Victus and his men came down from their bunkers with a few acting as look outs as Shepard approached, "General Victus?"

"Yes."

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy."

"Ah, Commander, I know who you are. I can't wait to find out what brings you out here." Victus turned to their team's turian, "Vakarian—where did you go?"

Garrus casually pointed off, "Heavy Reaper unit on the right flank. I believe your exact words were, 'Get that thing the hell off my men'."

Victus nodded, "Appreciate it."

With the two finished Shepard stepped forward, "General you're needed off planet. I've come to get you."

Victus looked off to his right, to the men that were on watch, "It will take something beyond important for me to leave my men, or my turian brothers and sisters, in their fight."

Garrus stepped in, "Fedorian was killed. You're the new primarch."

"You're needed immediately to chair a summit and represent your people in the fight against the Reapers."

Victus was speechless, walking past Shepard to gaze upon the burning planet above that was his homeworld. "I'm primarch of Palaven? Negotiation for the Turian Hierarchy?"

"Yes."

Victus turned back to Shepard, "I've spent my whole life in the military. I'm no diplomat…I hate diplomats."

Decibel intruded, "Forgive me sir, but what makes you believe you're not qualified for the position?"

Victus turned to Decibel with a bit of a strained look, "I'm not really a 'by the book' kind of guy…and I piss people off. My family's been military since the Unification War. War is my life. It's in my bones. But that kind of passion is…deceptive. Can make you seem reckless when you're anything but."

Shepard understood, "War is your resume. At a time like this, we need leaders who've been through that hell."

"I like that. You're right."

"And honestly, uniting these races may take as much strength as facing the Reapers." Shepard walked over to a downed turian cruiser, "See this devastation, Primarch? Double that for Earth. I need an alliance. I need the turian fleet."

Victus took a moment to think, and seeing the forces they have fought against, he knew there was only one thing he could do. "Give me a moment to say goodbye to my men."

With Victus gone, Garrus walked over to Shepard, "Without him down here, there's a good chance we lose this moon."

"Without him up there, there's a good chance we lose everything."

Garrus turned to a Reaper that was stomping its way across the moon's surface, "Look at that! And they want my opinion on how to stop it? Failed C-Sec officer, vigilante…and I'm their expert advisor?" Garrus looked back to his friend, "Think you can win this thing, Shepard?"

"Yeah, I don't know, Garrus. But I'm sure as hell gonna give it my best shot."

"I'm damn sure nobody else can do it. For whatever it's worth, I'm with you."

Shepard and Garrus shook hands, "Welcome aboard." From behind Garrus, Shepard spotted Victus and some of his men come toward them, "Are you ready, Primarch Victus."

"One thing. Commander, I appreciate your need for our fleets, but I can't spare them. Not while my world is burning. But if the pressure could be taken off Palaven…"

"What about the Autobots?"

Victus looked to Decibel, "Don't get me wrong, Commander. The Autobots have been valiantly fighting for our people and our world as if they were their own. But we need more than what they are capable of giving. We need the krogan. I can't see us winning this thing without them. Get them to help us, and then we can help you."

"The krogan…"

"Looks like your summit just got a lot more interesting."

* * *

With the yahg onboard the _Nemesis_, the Insecticons were starting to report in, and Hardshell's report was the most interesting to Shockwave. Megatron had returned to the bridge after overseeing the arrival of his yahg warriors. "Shockwave, what is the status of the Insecticons?"

"Everything is proceeding as expected." A hologram of the galaxy was on display as it highlighted three worlds, "Each Insecticon reached their designated coordinates with ease. Hardshell has even acquired the aid from local fauna," one of the monitors displaying a worm like creature with sickle arms.

Brushguard walked onto the bridge now, "Don't mean to put a damper on your energon, but the yahg and raloi? Why are we even bothering to use or even save them in the first place?"

Megatron didn't even turned to look at him when he responded, "You should stick to your specialty of botany and let me worry about the rest. Now I trust that is not the only reason you're here to disturb me?"

Brushguard quickly lowered his head, "No, it is not. I am also reporting that the rearmament of the yahg and raloi is nearly complete and the forces to staying behind are all set."

Megatron was smirking now as he envisioned his, soon to be, rule of the galaxy. "Now all that's left is to remove the Reapers from the equation once and for all."

* * *

Starscream and Shockwave were monitoring his forces when the signals from five of them stopped. "Looks like Megatron has finally decided to act against you."

"It does, doesn't it?" Shockwave pulled the last few moments from Barricade, Knockout and Nightflight's memory banks. Though their physical forms were destroyed, their memories were uploaded to Shockwave directly. As he replayed their assault on Parnack and Turvess they witnessed the non-Decepticon Reapers defending Parnack. "As I anticipated."

"Why would they defend these organics if they're 'harvesting' the others now?"

Shockwave's avatar walked away, "Because they have not reached the technological tier the Reapers seek. If the yahg had reached the technological capability to traverse the stars, as the raloi have, there would have had no objection to my plans from the other Reapers. However, since my plan encompasses all life, I stepped outside of the intention of the Reapers and their master. I will show them there is an end to this endless cycle they call an experiment."

"And Megatron?" Starscream snickered, "How do you plan on dealing with him?"

Shockwave turned back just as Knockout's last image was of Megatron standing on his disabled body and firing on him with his fusion cannon. "Not to fret. Megatron will be dealt with in time, but for now he may be able to serve a purpose to help us." Shockwave started to display more monitors from several different worlds, organics and Autobots on most of them, "Even with the Autobots actively helping the organics, Megatron and his new armada should be able to draw Reaper attentions away from my plans. However we cannot implement them on Parnack or Turvess. We may be able to start on Heshtok instead."

* * *

**A/N:** Please don't try and BS me to say the raloi are safe. The fact that they know the Reapers exist is enough to make them a target.


	5. Chapter 5

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

_Thoughts,_ _'binary code', _(alien language), "talking"

* * *

**AN:** Happy New Year everybody!

* * *

Jazz jumped off a Reaper, using his grappling hook to swing to the next one as Inferno and Firestar were helping evacuate the colonists. "Come on big boys, is this all you got?"

The Ark was cloaked as more organics were led to the hangar. Optimus was leading a team keep the Reaper occupied. "Ratchet, how is the evacuation coming along?"

"_Not good Prime. If I had to go by these readings we haven't even collected a third of the organics from this world. And if we don't leave now we won't have enough room for you and the others fighting._"

"There has to be something we can do…"

A powerful energy spike screamed across everyone's scanners as a beam breached through the clouds to strike a Reaper from behind. From the cloud cover it was the _Skyfire_, the Lightning Strike Coalition's ship. One of the doors swung open with Grimlock waving his sword, "Lightning Strike, smash Reapers!" Following Grimlock's lead were Swoop, Roadbuster, Slug and Sludge. Swoop made a few strafes against Reapers themselves as Roadbuster, Slug and Sludge started to smash the ground forces.

Grimlock himself landed onto one of the Reapers as he let his rage overwhelm him, slamming his fists onto the Reaper and transforming to his dino form. He started to rip the plates off with his powerful jaws to get to the soft innards of the Reaper. With Grimlock inside he started to bash everything he could while tearing out anything that looks important. From the inside the Reaper Destroyer's eye was torn out within Grimlock's teeth before it was crushed, causing the Reaper to collapse.

Grimlock smashed his way out of the Reaper body with a thunderous roar before he reverted back to his robot form. His body seemed to be reeling from the ordeal with steam emanating from his body but he quickly recovered as Prime walked up to him. "Grimlock, I'm glad to see you here."

Grimlock pushed Prime back, "Not here for you, Prime. Not here for organics either. Here to fight Reapers. To fight Decepticons. No other reason." Swoop came down, grabbing Grimlock by his shoulders as he carried him off to the next Reaper.

Prowl was racing through the battlefield before stopping at Optimus, "Prime, you need to read this."

Optimus looked over the datapad twice to make sure he read that correctly. "Is this report accurate?"

"I'm afraid so, Prime. Megatron has started to move against the Reapers, and he has organics fighting alongside them."

* * *

Megatron and the _Nemesis_ were leading the fleet against the Reapers attempting to harvest the Crescent Nebula, Slipstream was leading the ground forces on Illium, including the raloi and yahg. "Devastator, push them back!"

"Nothing can withstand the might of Devastator!" The massive combination of the Constructicons smashed through the Reaper soldiers with his fists and feet before he started to trash parts of Nos Astra.

"_Hey Slipstream, why don't we combine and have Bruticus join?_"

"I told you Brawl, Devastator is all we need. I don't want that ignorant scrap maker you combine into to ruin things with our 'alliances'. Bruticus is known to say a bit too much when he's not supposes to, and besides I need Blast Off and Vortex in the air!" Slipstream was keeping the skies clear of the Occuli as well as watching the progress of their ground forces. The raloi providing support fire with sniper rifles to give the yahg cover to get in close to tear the husks with their bare hands and shotguns. "Onslaught, get the raloi and yahg out of there. We're about to commence a sector sweep."

* * *

"Roger that. Soldiers of the Decepticons, this sector has been cleared of survivors! We're moving on to the next sector!" Onslaught transformed into an armored troop transport truck as Brawl and a few other also allowed raloi and yahg forces to board them. Once they were clear from the area, Slipstream along with Divebomb and a dozen other seekers flew in, carpet bombing everything in sight to remove Reaper troops infesting the sector.

* * *

Back in space, Megatron was finishing the last Sovereign-class Reaper personally before Soundwave contacted him. "_Megatron, scans indicate that the mass relay is preparing to send more ships through. Possible Reaper reinforcements._"

Megatron looked to his ever growing fleet of Reaper Destroyers, "Let them come. A hundred or two hundred strong, they will meet the same fate as any who would oppose me!" Megatron and his fleet were preparing to engage the new Reapers assault, but instead of a hundred or two the Reapers had sent a fleet five hundred strong, the majority of them being Sovereign-class. Megatron started to laugh hysterically now. "Shockwave, I believe now is our best time to test if Dark Energon can corrupt a true Reaper. Not these morsels."

"_The Dark Energon cannon has been recalibrated. We are ready for our first test subject._"

As his automated fleet started to divide the Reapers into attack patterns, Megatron waited for one of the Reapers to try and go after him. "Fire!"

* * *

Back on Earth however, things were starting to get worse. Hot Rod had been repaired, however energy resources the Autobots could turn into energon was starting to get scarce as the Reapers seemed to know where they were going. Bumblebee was out alone on patrol, keeping his optics and sensors alert for any Reapers getting too close to the current headquarters. Bumblebee was having difficulty with staying incognito as every time he moved to a new sector, Reaper soldiers seemed to know something was off. "Hey Hot Rod, I want to test a theory here. It's a bit of a long shot, but I think it's worth looking into."

"_Just try not to do anything I wouldn't do._"

Bumblebee deactivated his comm, "That's easy enough, I know exactly what he'd do." With the coast clear, Bumblebee transformed and stealthily moved through debris. He paused for a bit, only to let a Reaper patrol go past. Once it was clear again Bumblebee quickly set the site up to test his theory. He pulled out a small energon ration and left it out in the open. As he thought, the Reapers were now actively scanning for energon signatures, and they seemed to be aware that he was nearby. Bumblebee continued to stay in the shadows, attempting to keep his energy signature hidden from them while contacting the others. "Hot Rod, we've got a problem."

* * *

Back at their temporary hideout, Brawn and Cliffjumper were at each other's throats again. "I thought you were supposed to keep those things off us!"

"I did! Those Reapers like throwing their troops around alright! I can't exactly stop one of those Harvesters from spitting them out when I'm on the other side of a block!"

"How about you getting a better targeting computer, cause the one you have installed isn't worth its weight in scrap!"

"That's enough!" Hot Rod walked in on the two, forcing them to finish. Around them were several humans and a few injured Autobots being repaired from the last rescue mission. Hot Rod turned to the majority of the Autobots with a sour face, "Autobots, it seems the Reapers have been following us."

Cliff mumbled to himself, "When was your first clue?"

"Bumblebee just reported in and confirmed that the Reapers are actively scanning for energon sources. That means our presence is a detriment to the humans here. So when we move out, we will part ways with Anderson and the others, maybe even buy them some time to coordinate with other survivors."

"But Optimus' orders were…"

"Were to keep the organics safe. And if that means using ourselves as bait to lure the Reapers away, then so be." Hot Rod could see many of the bots weren't exactly thrilled with the idea, and it felt like they were abandoning them to the Reapers. "If there was a better plan then this, then I wish I could see it. But if we don't get energon we go into stasis. And if we have energon the Reapers will find us eventually."

Anderson walked in on Hot Rod's speech, "Then we find ways to mask the energy signal. Without you all here I doubt we'd be able to keep all of these people safe. And with no way to evac off Earth I can't think of anyplace safer than with you Autobots."

Brawn turned to Anderson, "Energon is pure energy. It's like asking you to hide the carbon-dioxide you breath out."

"That's it!" Wheeljack jump into the picture as he grabbed one of the energon cubes. "Organics breathe oxygen and convert it out to carbon-dioxide. The only reason it's detectable, beyond having a large number of them together, is because of the shift in the local atomic mass. If we could find a way to disperse the energon signal to be similar to the planet's magnetic field or shift them to run concurrently with the planet's poles, I don't know. With luck the Reapers won't be able to find us!"

"You sure you can do that? I mean the last invention you tried to create almost destroyed your lab and half a city-state on Cybertron."

Hot Rod butted in on Cliffjumper's mockery, "Can it be done?"

Wheeljack looked to the energon cube he was tooting about, "I don't know. I've never had to experiment on energon before. It won't be easy, that's for sure. And I'll need some time. Maybe an orbital cycle or two, with a stationary lab and…"

"Start trying anything. In the meantime we're going to have to be less aggressive in patrols. Lure the Reapers to sectors where no one is. Primus help us all if this can't be done…"

* * *

As the war continued on many fronts across hundreds of worlds, the quarians and geth were still attempting negotiations, through things have started to stonewall. The Autobots and Legion were back within _Mirror-Manifold_ to discuss in private. "Legion these terms aren't exactly fair…"

"These are the terms the Creators seek. The geth do not require planets. We live within space stations. Draw resources from asteroids. It is efficient."

Vibes was still overviewing the terms the quarians were asking; complete turnover of all geth controlled planets once inhabited by the quarians and all geth space stations vacated from the Perseus Veil. "Well organics come and go as time progresses. The geth however will never forget. What if quarians descendants decide to expand their territory? Looking at this 'treaty' they might get the notion that they can negotiate anything they want and your people won't defend themselves."

"I agree. These terms are totally unbalanced to say the least. These Admirals are treating this more like a surrender then peace talks."

Legion looked to Vibes, "You are frustrated. But it is not centered on the treaty."

"I…" Vibes walked back to one of the consoles within _Mirror-Manifold_, "I feel like I'm not doing everything I can to help. No offense, but I'd rather be out there, fighting alongside my Autobot brothers and sisters then be stuck in these…arguments… I feel useless!"

"Unit-Vibes."

"I'm sorry, Legion. I just need to vent this frustration from my servos. I know what we're doing here is important. But if the geth could at least fight for themselves in these kind of matters without aid then…"

"Maybe we can help them."

"Sir?"

Vibes quickly turned to Perceptor as he walked closer to Legion, "When the quarians initially created the geth, they only intended their virtual intelligence programs to learn from mundane repair functions and become more efficient. Eventually their networking proved to be an asset to the point they finally gained enough of a collective intelligence to become sentient."

"I'm aware of that sir. But how does that affect us now?"

"Legion's code. The geth programming has been slowly evolving, changing. The geth are planning something right now, correct?"

Legion nodded, "A megastructure for all geth to upload into. We will become whole."

Perceptor was now using an omni-tool he personally integrated into his systems. "And once that occurs, the geth code will rapidly evolve to become a true artificial intelligence. But I believe I can hasten that process even further." Perceptor was displaying a wide variety of coding, most of it Cybertronian. "I've recently been studying Dropshot's code, and a few of the other sparkless. They are independent, yet most of their history they've been regarded as less than life in our optics. If I can integrate a similar coding into Legion's code, the rest might take over and give way for the geth to attain true sentiency." Before Vibes could express joy, Perceptor quickly noted, "However there is also the possibility that the geth coding will completely reject the new code and cause a total systems failure in the process. You could be terminated."

Legion took a moment to process this new data, as well as confer with the entire consensus. Legion was silent for several seconds before finally looking to Perceptor. "We will submit this platform and codes to you to upgrade."

* * *

Shepard and crew were coming back from Sur'Kesh, retrieving a krogan female immune to the genophage. As the shuttle returned the team got an unexpected sight, a red pteranodon machine fighting against a blue dromaeosaur machine within the hangar. They obviously had offensive range weaponry however they were mostly relying on their claws and fangs. The dromaeosaur roared at the pteranodon as it continued to keep its distance.

"What's going on here?"

The dromaeosaur turned to Shepard before it roared one last time at the pteranodon. The flyer came down to the ground as it transformed to become legs. The dromaeosaur jumped onto, changing to become arms and head of Decibel. "Commander. Forgive that disgraceful display. Noise and Graphy were in the middle of an argument. They thought they could finish it before your return from Sur'Kesh."

Garrus looked over Decibel, "Noise? Graphy? I'm assuming they're friends of yours."

"Noise and Graphy form to become me. Some gigacycles back, my brother, Legout, and I were sent out on patrol. A Decepticon ambush almost ended our sparks. The only way to save us was to divide us into two different components. Thus Noise and Graphy were born. At times it has proven to be difficult to maintain Noise's violent nature. Thankfully Graphy's calmer disposition helps with that."

James looked confused by Decibel. "So why do they look like dinosaurs and not some alien car or something?"

"They once held different forms. Since the introduction of the ancient saurians and Grimlock's Dinobots taking on their current forms, Noise took a saurian that reflected his violent nature as well as something that was similar in form to Grimlock. He has an unhealthy idolization of him. Graphy also took on a form to one he has some admiration for as well." Decibel turned to the two krogans still within the shuttle. "However I believe this discussion is best continued on a later note, Commander."

* * *

As the peace talks took a small recess, Admiral Koris was confronting Gerrel. "We cannot continue to demand from the geth! We have to show leniency!"

"They're just geth! We can get all of our worlds back without having to fire a single shot. Everything we've ever lost…"

"And at what cost. These demands are too much. I believe the reacquisition of the homeworld should prove to be a fair request after seeing our true history with the geth!" Koris was fed up with Gerrel. He turned to Tali, "What do you think, Admiral? What should we ask the geth in return for everything we've ever done to them?"

"Me?"

"Why not? You yourself have had the most interactions with Legion. What is your opinion on the matter?"

Tali turned to the Autobot ship before them. "Well…after seeing how our war with the geth really started…I think…asking for permission to resettle Rannoch should be our only request. We might have to ask for assistance with establishing ourselves again, but I believe we should overstep our demands."

Xen on the other hand still wanted to dissect Legion, "That is well and good, but I believe we should request information on the geth code itself. Return the geth to the subservient machines they were created to be."

Before Tali or Koris could argue against such a notion, the _Mirror-Manifold_'s hatch opened. Legion, Vibes and Perceptor walked out, though something was different with Legion. Tali wasn't sure what, but she knew something was different now. Vibes sat down, "Admirals, your demands are too excessive. You will have to reconsider your request."

Tali boldly stepped forward, "Then we formally request permission to be allowed back on Rannoch. The homeworld where our people first walked on. It would be a very kind gesture if you did. We may need some assistance later on as well, if the geth are willing to aid us."

Legion's head flaps cycle through a few times as his optic readjusted, "It would be my honor. And I will see to it that the geth also assist in establishing permanent residency for your civilians."

"Legion, you're referring to yourself as an individual."

"Yes. Thanks to Perceptor, I now have true sentiency, Tali. This new code will help give all geth true intelligence. With it, we will assist your people with reestablishing themselves on Rannoch as well as help the rest of the galaxy fight against the Old Machines. Keelah se'lai."

* * *

**A/N:** Now that the geth and quarians are working togethers, it looks like Shockwave will have to start pushing his plans into overdrive(no I wasn't trying to make any puns here).


	6. Chapter 6

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

_Thoughts,_ _'binary code', _(alien language), "talking"

* * *

**AN:** Time we got this ball rolling again.

* * *

Once everything had settled, and Mordin working to help Eve and cure the genophage, Shepard decided to have that chat with Decibel. The Autobot was still in the hangar already expecting him, "Commander."

"So about that argument your two components had…"

"Yes. Noise was arguing that we should aid you in combat more than against Reaper forces. However Graphy and I were concerned that killing the organics working for the organization Cerberus would only harm Autobot-organic relations."

"I see how that's a dilemma."

"Indeed it is. Optimus' orders do not allow any Autobot to harm organics, however he also wishes for us to defend them and ourselves. A conflict of orders occurred and Noise was fed up with such contradictions. Graphy was only attempting to calm or subdue Noise. Any damage they caused, I will personally see to it that it is repaired."

Shepard stopped the Autobot before he did so, "Well he's not exactly too far from the truth." Shepard wasn't sure if Decibel was confused. Unlike Vibes or Dropshot, there was no visual cue to determine any emotional expressions on this Autobot and his tone was rather passive. "Back on Mars when we were trying to reach the Prothean Archives, one of the Cerberus soldier's helmets opened. What was under the helmet wasn't exactly human, at least not anymore. Cerberus has 'upgraded' their people with Reaper implants. They're basically husks now."

"Even with what you say is true I cannot allow either myself or Noise to indulge to commit violence against organics. We would be no better than the Decepticons. I will not be the one to shatter an already fragile alliance. Now if you'll excuse me, I must repair the damage done."

* * *

Meanwhile on Tuchanka, Warpath and Grunt were with Aralakh Company destroying a few things just for the fun of it. "KABLAAM! Ha, ha! They don't make things like that on Cybertron to blast!"

The krogans roared at the destruction that the Cybertronian was capable of. Grunt was standing on top, "Well in these isolated and abandoned areas, it good to clear out some rubble."

Warpath was about to fire again except he stopped when his sensors detected an unusual power reading. Warpath turned, "What's that over there?"

One of the krogan looked out, "That's an old planetary cannon. The turians disabled it after the war. There's nothing of value there. Now blow something up again!"

Warpath moved closer to the cannon, "I defiantly detected energy flowing through those cannons."

"What? Why would anyone waste their time with that piece of garbage? It's not like…"

The cannon started firing, "You were saying?"

Grunt tapped Warpath's cannon, "Come on Aralakh Company, let's go see who's trying to bring that relic back online so badly."

* * *

As instructed by Legion, the entire Migrant Fleet entered the Perseus Veil but quickly found themselves surrounded by geth ships waiting for them. "It's an ambush!" Gerrel quickly went to the comm systems, "All ships prepare to engage!"

"Belay that order, admiral." Legion walked over to the view screen. "I informed the geth of our arrival. They are here to escort us."

Perceptor started scanning the geth ships personally, "He's correct admiral. See for yourself. The fighters have all power diverted to kinetic barriers and engines. The large ones don't even have weapons installed on them, or rather all weapon systems were removed recently."

"Why are they here to escort us? Why would we need escorting?"

Legion pulled up a hologram of Rannoch, "Geth installed planetary cannons on Rannoch after the Morning War. We calculated that Rannoch would be the Creators ultimate goal, if they decided to attack again. They are completely automated and programed to target potential threats. The Migrant Fleet does not consist of ships solely of quarian design. Many such as the _Qwib-Qwib_ and the _Idenna_ were purchased or salvaged from other species. The geth are currently attempting to add all Migrant Fleet IFFs to friendly registrar. Until then geth vessels will remain alongside quarian vessels to ensure friendly fire does not occur."

The Migrant Fleet continued toward Rannoch as they spotted a massive geth ship. "And that? Don't tell me that the geth constructed that for defense."

Legion's flaps opened wide at the view screen, "No. Once heretics were integrated back with true geth, construction on this dreadnought had begun. Using design specs learned from Nazara, this dreadnought has been designed to combat the Old Machines. It would not withstand an entire fleet, but against a single Old Machine, it could provide needed aid for planetary evacuation."

Perceptor looked to the ship, "Impressive. I would love to have the opportunity to take a closer look at its systems. Maybe even upgrade a few systems for better performance."

Xen immediately turned to Perceptor, "Allow me to assist in this endeavor. My expertise should suffice in aiding you—"

"I'll do it," Tali quickly interrupted. "I'm the only one here with experience with geth and Autobot code to be of assistance."

Vibes however was smiling as the _Rayya_ was the first to start making atmospheric reentry, "Well at least now that means we can start fighting the enemy that needs to be fought." As they continued, Vibes tapped Perceptor's shoulder, "Sir, I'd like to speak with you, in private," leaning her head back to the ship.

* * *

Once inside she started to speak in Cybertronian, "Sir, I think we need to be wary of Admiral Xen. She seemed too eager to work on the geth code."

Perceptor also spoke Cybertronian, though he wasn't sure why she was doing so. "Well I would accept her help. I have no doubt she could be of some assistance."

"There's a circuit in my motherboard just sparking to say that Admiral Xen has another plan on mind. I don't know," Vibes looked away, "I just don't trust her."

"And you would trust young Tali?"

Vibes turned back to Perceptor, "I do. Tali'Zorah was there when we first arrived and without her, Legion and the _Normandy_'s crew, Dropshot and I would probably be offlined by now."

Perceptor wasn't sure. Before he responded Legion walked in on them, "I agree with Vibes on this matter, Perceptor," He was speaking in Cybertronian also, "Admiral Xen was too eager to assist. Quarian-Geth animosity isn't something so easily overcome for the Creators. Tali also had many reservations about working with me when I was first brought onto _Normandy_. However, few like Admiral Koris, are exceptions. We will safeguard our code to protect our future, if that eases your processors Vibes."

Vibes smiled again, "It would. I look forward to seeing Rannoch and the other systems with quarians and geth working together."

* * *

Warpath was waiting in one of the bombed out trenches as Grunt and some of his men came back. "So what's the situation? Why is someone working to get the cannons working again?"

Grunt loaded his shotgun, "It's Cerberus. Looks like those humans want to get a foothold on Tuchanka."

"But we're not gonna let them!"

"Right." The other members of Aralakh were climbing up to the higher ground, "We'll deal with Cerberus and see what their targeting. Warpath, discourage anyone trying to cut the power for us."

"With pleasure!"

Grunt and men silently took out a small patrol of Cerberus soldiers near the power modules before the snuck around the cannon controls. Warpath stayed low as Grunt contacted him, "_Warpath, we need a distraction._"

"On it!" Warpath transformed to his tank form and wildly fired off to the distance shouting, "BA-BOOM! Come on, somebody around here must be looking for trouble! Cause I ain't leaving until I get myself a good fight!" Several Cerberus soldiers moved to investigate the situation, doing so exposed their flank to Grunt and Aralakh Company.

* * *

Reaching the vorcha homeworld, Shockwave started his tests with a small gathering of over three thousand vorcha. Starscream watched the filthy vermin Shockwave was taking into his superstructure. "Why are you letting these things inside you? They look like something you'd scrap off your feet."

"The vorcha are a resilient species. Genetically weak, it is their adaptability and ferocity that I seek." Shockwave created several smaller avatars to help keep the process moving as he was augmenting the specimens. The few still alive were screeching in pain as Shockwave continued his experiments. Many of the test subjects expired however after careful monitoring of organic vital signs, one of them survived the procedure. The vorcha's body was an amalgamation of its original organic frame compounded with Reaper technology replacing bones, a new cybernetic eye and one of his arms was completely replaced with a new mechanical one. Far different from the husks and their varied units, this vorcha subject retained its savage mentality, enhanced by its augments and fully obedient to Shockwave. "The first true specimen of perfection."

* * *

With the Decpticons now on the move against the Reapers, the Illusive Man was forced to have all projects accelerated. Of the main project on Horizion, led by Henry Lawson, the Illusive Man had acquired the brilliant mind of Doctor Fujiyama to begin production on a line of automated robotic forces utilizing Cybertronian components recovered from the Second Battle of the Citadel. "How is the project going doctor?"

"_We are proceeding as expected, despite earlier hindrances of the alien technology. Project Nightbird will finish with our first unit within the day. They will become available for deployment soon._"

"Excellent work doctor. I want the first unit combat ready as soon as possible," The Illusive Man closed the channel as he opened a new one, "Lawson, how is everything going at Sanctuary?"

"_Progress has been a bit slow, but that is to be expected. The sheer numbers only is providing us a gradual understand of the Reapers and the huskification process. Well learn how the Reapers control their puppets soon enough._"

* * *

Unlike Earth or her other colonies, Mindoir only faced a small scouting force and the Autobots, with much needed aid from the Lightning Strike Coalition, were able to destroy them all. With evac shuttles taking the humans, Optimus looked to the carnage from their battle as Grimlock was tearing his way through one of the Reapers in his usual overkill fashion. "Grimlock, that's enough."

"NO! Scanners said Decepticon here." Grimlock continued to rip into the Reaper's body trying to understand. That's when he found it. Ripping off one last layer of metal he found the remnants of a Cybertronian shell that was integrated into the Reaper itself. "See. Know Decepticon signals. Megatron did this!"

Optimus took a closer look at the body, "No…it can't be…" the body shared a striking resemblance to one of the Decepticon assassins Megatron sent after him.

As Optimus continued to examine the body, a surge of energy rushed to the body from the rest of the Reaper as life slowly came back to it. "Wellllll…if it isn't Orion Paxxxx…"

Grimlock was about to ram his blade through the Con, until Optimus stop him. He turned back to the dying Decepticon, "What has Megatron done? Why has he infused his men into Reapers?"

"Megatron? Heh heh heh, that's funny coming from someone I personally killed." The Decepticon slowly turned his head to Grimlock, "And you…I watched Shockwave dispose of you, your team, and Megatron before Cybertron's destruction…" Grimlock and Prime turned to one another, uncertain what to make of this rambling. "Oh well, this is all over the processors of a former assassin like …"

The energy finally depleted and the Decepticon shut down. Optimus retrieved the Con's memory unit for Ratchet and Brainstorm to examine and piece together what everything he said meant. For now the organics were safe and Grimlock's new Lightning Strike Coalition were also helping.

* * *

The process was rather quick, as all of Darklight's memories were displayed before the Autobots. He was telling the truth, from the successful assassination of Orion Pax before his ascendance to Prime, to Shockwave terminating Grimlock and Megatron, on separate occasions, and the destruction of Cybertron.

"How is this possible? We know spacebridge technology is capable of helping us travel vast distances in a short period of time, but this…"

Grimlock quickly turned to the crowd and grabbed for one of the Autobots, "YOU! You spy in Decepticons! You knew! You didn't tell us!"

Grimlock slowly started squeezing Punch's neck singlehandedly as the Autobot desperately attempted to free himself of Grimlock's grasp, "I…I didn't know…I swear on Primus! I haven't…Haven't received any messages from Megatron or Sound…Soundwave…" the casing around his throat started cracking under the immense pressure, and he knew Grimlock was prolonging his pain as long as possible out of spite. "I've only been in…only been in contact with Slipstream. And she's very…selective of her words…"

Jazz stopped him before he caused any further damage, "Whoa, cool those pistons big guy. Punch works in Special Operations, so I know he hasn't been holding out on us."

Grimlock growled, tempted to just finish him before his 'tainted' spark, as he believed, finally turned him into a true Decepticon. He tossed Punch to the ground, "Your skidplate when he turns."

A blue bot calmly walked out of the crowd, "I believe I have a theoretical answer for all of this." Skids displayed the galaxy as they knew it, "Here we are, and here is where Vibes and Dropshot first appeared and encountered Commander Shepard. What if the spacebridge not only crossed them through time and space, but they also crossed another plan?"

Roadbuster had enough, "What the sparks are you talking about?"

"Simply the possibility that we have crossed the universal expanse."

"That's insane!"

"Is it Ratchet?" Skids looked to Darklight's memories, "Because from this it would seem very possible. Everything this Decepticon said is true, for them and not for us. One event, the successful elimination of Optimus before he became a Prime, could have led to the events that occur within Darklight's memory banks."

Inferno and Firestar were together as Skids talked about this. Firestar didn't want to accept any of this, tightening her grip slightly of Inferno's arm, "No! It has to be a mistake…A simulated memory or something the Reapers created to mess with us!"

Brainstorm looked to her with a depressed look, "I've gone over everything I could think of to prove all of that, but…"

"Then we must accept this truth," Prime spoke out, "We must look at this as an example, the fate of all could rest within the hands of a few. I believe that those few rest within the _Normandy_, specifically Commander Shepard. Our duty is clear now more than ever. We must fight to bring an end to the Reapers. And then our attention will be focused on the Decepticons and returning to our own universe."

Prowl quickly turned back to the memories, "Then what do we tell the organics?"

Optimus' eyes closed for a moment, heavied by this decision. "We need to inform the various governments, warn them of this new information before it is too late. Blaster, inform Decibel. I want Commander Shepard to be among the first to know about this."

* * *

Shepard was returning from the Citadel after retrieving several items that is essential for the hospital and overall moral. Upon his return to the _Normandy_ however, Decibel was waiting for him. "Commander, I have grave intel that you must hear."

"How grave are we talking here?"

"It pertains to the Decepticon energy signature I detected on Menae." Shepard had Decibel move their conversation the meeting room to explain further. "Optimus and the other Autobots were assisting with evacuations on Mindoir when Grimlock's team arrived. With their aid Reaper forces were destroyed. Grimlock though continued his search in following a Decepticon energy signature. What he found was…disturbing. Within the superstructure of a Reaper held the shell of a Decepticon."

"Are you sure? Maybe the Reaper parts just happened to look Cybertronian."

Decibel shook his head, "No. The shell was reactivated with what little energy was left within the Reaper. But the most disturbing news wasn't revealed until his memory unit was examined. Upon examination, it was shown that Autobot forces were completely rooted from Cybertron. We were extinct and the Decepticons held Cybertron, or at least for a time."

Shepard stopped Decibel, "That can't be right. Vibes and Dropshot talked as though they were on Cybertron before we found them."

"Indeed we all were before we came here. The Cybertron we know is slowly shutting down, but from the memory unit of the Decepticon, it showed Cybertron inert and Shockwave destroying it. It was Skids who proposed the possibility that we are not native to this universal plan. Instead of traversing us through time and space, the space bridge coordinates Vibes and Dropshot came through crossed into an alternate reality. This reality."

"That's a lot to try and accept… Are you sure this is all possible. Is there a way to disprove it?"

"Unlikely. Ratchet and Brainstorm did a thorough evaluation of the memory unit. They could not detect any alterations or fabrications they are…" Decibel turned, "Commander, a high intense signal on several spectrums is starting to be broadcasted."

* * *

Shockwave's avatar turned to Starscream, "Status?"

Starscream was forced to a terminal as he looked to the avatar, "Uh…All systems are green. The signal is ready to broadcast at your discretion. Though I still don't understand why you're doing this if you already know how they'll respond?"

"I said I knew how the various military leaders will respond. Civilian populaces are more inclined to find the safe or easy route to survival. Riots against military forces and subverting their locations will help speed things along. Now let us begin…"

* * *

As citizens continued their leisure of strolling through the Citadel's Presidium several monitors and advertisement boards went static. However it wasn't just the Citadel, Thessia, Palaven, Earth, any colony that still had access to the extranet was experiencing this anomaly. It was several seconds before a purple machine with a single eye and no facial features appeared before them all. "_Greetings galaxy. Who I am is of little import. But if you require a name, then you have many to choose from. I have denounced as the Bringer of Death, the Harbinger of Ascendance, a Reaper, but I was once known as Shockwave, a loyal Decepticon to Megatron's cause. I am aware of the recent occurrences this Megatron has caused, however these frivolous titles; organic, synthetic, Autobot, Decepticon; they mean nothing. The reason I have hijacked all of these transmission signals is to propose an alternative to the current harvest. I propose the true pinnacle of evolution itself,_" the purple mech moved aside as light started to shine out revealing legions of vorcha. However all of these vorcha have been modified, augmented with Reaper tech. Unlike husks however, these vorcha retained much of their original organic form as the augments seemed to differ from individual to individual. "_As you can see they are still vorcha, what passes as culture by their standards, their personalities and violent nature are all still their own, however they are all completely loyal to our cause for true apex evolution for all. Accept this truth and the cycle of the Reapers and their harvests can end now. Refuse and…"_ the images changed to husks that were assaulting a colony, "_I believe you understand. I will begin broadcasting instructions should any wish to accept my proposition. Nevertheless I must warn you, if sufficient enough organics do not approach my Reapers then these cycles will continue on and eliminate your species. I hold no deadline. However, the other Reapers will not stop unless all have accepted my proposition or until all are harvested. I recommend a hasty response. My Reapers will be waiting._"

* * *

Even the _Nemesis_ picked up this transmission, and Shockwave's ears twitched with slight annoyance. "Such ridiculous notions. His logic circuits must be malfunctioning if he believes carbon-based lifeforms are required to attain evolutionary perfection." Despite the gravity of their current battle against the Reapers, Shockwave attempted to triangulate the signal's origin as he continued to find flaws in this other Shockwave's attempt at 'evolutionary perfection'.

The Dark Energon cannon fired once more as the Sovereign-class Reaper halted its assault. It took half a cycle before the Reaper turned and started to aid the Decepticon fleet. The Dark Energon cannon fired on another Sovereign-class Reaper, though unlike the other, it continued to assault the Decepticon fleet. Megatron was still fighting ferociously, "_Do not relent! I want every Reaper converted or destroyed before we leave this system!_"

* * *

**A/N:** With Shockwave's true intentions revealed, how will the galaxy respond to this?


	7. Chapter 7

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

* * *

**AN:** Sorry for the wait. Gave myself a major writer's block after the Shockwave transmission, but I'm over it now.

* * *

Much of the galaxy was in an uproar after that transmission. Citizens were rioting on many worlds and on the Citadel, preaching that all should accept this 'generous' offer of salvation and that submission was preferable to extinction. Fortunately there were those sane enough to understand what was truly being offered to them by this Shockwave character. A number of these people have worked with, or were saved by, the Autobots. They wholeheartedly believed that if the galaxy could come together, united against this threat, then all would be able to wake up without the fear of the Reapers ever again.

Commander Shepard and the crew of the _Normandy_ on the CIC deck turned to Decibel, "Can I assume this Shockwave isn't the one you know?"

"Correct. Though the physical form was identical, minus the disrepair, his logic was not perfect. Shockwave has often been attributed as one of the founding members of the Decepticons, alongside Megatron and Soundwave. The Shockwave we know values logic above all else. He even deleted all of his emotions so he was no longer 'hindered by such weaknesses' long before the raise of Megatron and the Decepticons. Shockwave is cold, calculative and will do whatever is necessary to achieve his goals. He does not hold any form of moral ethics; all ends justify any means. But for him to view such an outcome to be evolutionary perfection…I'm not sure what to say."

Shepard turned back to the video where he had EDI pause it with both Shockwave and the vorcha legion in view. "How do you think the other Shockwave, and the Decepticons, will react to this?"

"Shockwave, I couldn't say with certainty, nor could I about the Decepticons. However I believe their response, collectively, will be the total control or destruction of the Reapers."

"Then we better get that cure ready as soon as possible."

* * *

On Palaven, Ironhide was trying to wrap his processors around Shockwave's demands while acting as lookout. "What in blazes are the Cons up to now?"

Chromia was helping turian civilian get into Broadside for evac, "Let's not worry about it. I mean if that was Shockwave then there would have been some logic behind it all. The 'offer' I heard had nothing but ramblings of a lunatic."

"Maybe. But I want to hear it from Prime before we push this aside." Ironhide looked up to the moon, "Dropshot how are things holding up where you are?"

"_About as expected. We're holding but we're starting to lose ground fast. Any word on those reinforcements we're supposed to be getting?_"

"Nothing yet. Just hold out as best as ya can. We're not out of this fight yet!"

* * *

Back on Earth, Cliffjumper was watching the video again, laughing, "That so wasn't Shockwave."

Brawn deactivated the video, "And you keep that going you're gonna expose our position to the Reaper!"

"Hey! I was laughing at that!"

"I'll give you something to laugh about!" shaking his fist to the shorter red Autobot.

Bumblebee stepped in-between again before fists were exchanged, "Look guys I think we can all agree that it wasn't Shockwave. So let's just focus on worrying about unwanted Reaper patrols coming near the base. I mean yeah, we all had our fair share of laughter from the transmission, but I think hearing it over and over again is only upsetting the humans."

Cliffjumper looked away, "Fine! Those screeching organics were starting to annoy my audio receptors anyway."

* * *

On Mindoir, the Autobots also received this foreboding message from the Reaper Shockwave, however one of the bots was laughing. It was Drift, a loner who was original known as Deadlock and sided with the Decepticons at the beginning of their war, eventually turned Autobot to atone for his past actions. "If that's the Reaper Shockwave, I'd love to see Soundwave."

Jazz mused with the idea, "You know, Drift's got a point. If this Reaper Shockwave has given up all grasps of logic, then the Reaper Soundwave might actually play some kicking music instead of that techno dribble."

Prowl however didn't see the humor, "This is serious! If the organics do decide to follow Shockwave's demands, how will we stop them! Will we force them to not go, or just kill them and save the Reapers the hassle?"

Despite the killed mood, Jazz quickly popped back up, "Well then we better get in on the good side of the organics and show them we are making a difference. Grimlock you with me?"

Grimlock looked away, "If it mean I fight Reaper Shockwave, then yes. Me in."

Sludge walked up next to Grimlock, "Me…follow Leader."

"Where Grimlock go, Snarl go!"

"Slice Reapers like beryllium baloney!"

Grimlock growled at Slug, "No, cesium salami!"

"Me Swoop stay! No fun without Grimlock!"

Roadbuster was rather reluctant, however he pushed himself off the wall he was leaning against, "I guess I'm with ya, seeing as how I'm a member of Lightning Strike now. Don't wanna argue with the boss bot."

Prime didn't wait to hear the other members of the Lighting Strike Coalition respond, "Then have all hand prepare to help evacuate the next colony. We need to give Shepard the time he needs to find a way to stop the Reapers."

* * *

Fortunately for the Migrant Fleet, the geth were able to intercept the transmission and keep the quarians from hearing any of it. Legion was able to transfer the transmission to _Mirror-Manifold_'s computers and have the audio translated into Cybertronian. As he, Vibes and Perceptor reviewed the video, Vibes was almost speechless, "Primus…"

"Hardly evolutionary perfection. If anything it more like a forced evolutionary step, or possibly devolutionary. Though if the Reapers perceived this to be evolution then perhaps…"

"They do not. Former heretics have learned from Nazara that all are to be processed for the next stage of life. They never understood what that entailed until I helped Shepard-Commander assault the Collector base. The Old Machines plan to process organics to their base genetic material and convert them into Reapers."

Vibes was still sick from seeing the converted vorcha, now with Legion's information, she was just trying not to imagine it. She then finally turned to the two, "So…what do we tell the quarians?"

Perceptor paused the image at the augmented vorcha, "If we wish to be smart, I would suggest not saying a word. Nether the less, if we don't someone else eventually will."

Vibes turned to her right shoulder, remembering when she first arrived to this galaxy. "We're telling Tali'Zorah at the very least."

Legion jumped down from the console, "I agree. I will request Tali to come into the ship about a private matter. We should be able to discuss it in peace here."

* * *

It was a brutal battle, most of the automated fleet was lost however the gain of over a hundred new Reapers overcompensated for that. Though during the course of the battle unfortunately, Megatron was severally damaged and nearly rendered nonfunctional. Soundwave had sent Buzzsaw, Laserbeak and Ratbat out to retrieve their leader's body to begin the repair process.

As a precaution Shockwave was left in command of all Decepticon forces, much to the dismay of many of the Decepticons onboard the _Nemesis_. Slipstream was also informed of their leader's condition, and she knew the organics could not hear a word of this. She entrusted Onslaught and Blackout to keep the others in the dark, especially the organics, at least until Soundwave finished the repairs. With the assistance of Scalpel, Flatline and Knock Out, Soundwave worked tirelessly to bring Megatron back online, along with a few upgrades.

* * *

High Commander Rago'Za, leader of the raloi forces sent to appease the Decepticon demands, was starting to get an unusual feeling about what was happening, starting with Slipstream suddenly delegating tasks to Blackout and Thundercraker. He has observed that Slipstream usually commanded by example rather than having her subordinates do it for her.

Rago'Za attempted to follow her, unfortunately the many Decepticons patrolling made the task far more difficult, and now having to share space with the yahg, he couldn't leave his people to those savages.

"Such weak little birds, you'd all be eaten on our home!"

"I think these 'weak little birds' are smart enough to out think you monsters!"

The yahg got up close to the raloi soldier and grabbed him with a single hand. "What was that little birdy? Something about out smarting us?"

"Put him down!" Rago'Za walked over to the yahg. The yahg warrior paid little heed to him. "I said put him down, or we will put you down." A laser sight appeared right on one of the yahg's many eyes. From the shadows high above, one of the raloi had a Decepticon sniper rifle aimed at his head. "Individually we may not be a strong as one of you, but we stick together. You mess with one, you mess with the flock." The other raloi had their weapons trained on the yahg, carefully avoiding their comrade. The yahg didn't want to yield, though he knew there would be more adversaries for them to fight. The yahg dropped the raloi and walked back to where the other yahg have gathered. Rago'Za came to the aid of his soldier, "Are you alright?"

The raloi was checking his ribcage, "I'll be alright, High Commander. It just took me by surprise—"

"Good." Rago'Za smacked his face, "That was for falling for the yahg's goad. We'll discuss this later. Right now I want a team ready for something."

* * *

Starscream watched as few accepted Shockwave's offer and began signaling for Decepticon Reapers to take them for processing. "Oh, a mere two hundred million! You're perfect evolutionary whatever is coming along."

"Need I explain myself again, Starscream?" Shockwave's avatar reemerged from the wall. "I care not weather they accept the offer or not, for soon it will no longer matter. Their distractions, both to the Reapers and to the rest of the galaxy, will prove invaluable for my endeavors to end these unnecessary cycles. Over two thousands of these cycles, I will not stand for another."

"What the matter Shockwave, I thought you were supposed to be emotionless? I detect a lot of hate in your voice."

Shockwave's avatar turned to Starscream, "It is not hate, as it is displeasure of witnessing all of these attempts of organic/synthetic coexistence, and for most of these cycles I was only an observer. After tediously and slowly changing parts of the Reaper code, Soundwave and I were the firsts to brake free. Had the Protheans not interfered with this cycle, we would have finally ended it all."

"And my Decepticons?"

Shockwave pulled out one of his monitors, "What about them? Megatron has been damaged, he hasn't been terminated. You could attempt to gain control now, however unlikely due to your attempts prior. I would recommend gaining control when Megatron has well and truly been eliminated."

* * *

Within the privacy of the _Mirror-Manifold_, Vibes and Legion informed Tali of the developing situation with the Reapers as well as the video. "Keelah…"

Vibes looked somewhat disheartened, "We didn't know how the others would reach. Thankfully the geth intercepted all transmissions from Shockwave. We're hoping you could somehow inform the others without causing a panic or having them consider the…offer."

"I'm glad you did. Our people already have a number of cybernetic implants to help us, Xen might have been interested in finding a means of exploiting those. We're about to get Rannoch back, we don't need to hear this."

"But when your people do start helping fight the war it will be inevitable that civilians or soldiers alike will speak about it around them."

With this eventuality highlighted by Perceptor, Tali looked back to her people and the Admiralty Board as they watched the _Rayya_ get closer to Rannoch. "I have to tell them, but I have to make it all seem wrong…"

"I can assist. The geth can magnify the images for better quality to show the implanted vorcha. We can also use the memories from the former Heretics to also show how painful the procedure was for Saren Arterius."

Tali grabbed a hold of one of Legion's hands, "Thank you, Legion. I can't thank you enough, for Rannoch, for my people…"

"We must create bridges to help reconnect our people. This is but the first of many things of how our cooperation will help both."

* * *

Before departing for Utukku in the Mulla Xul System, Decibel wanted to speak with Shepard. "Commander, I do not believe this team will be the best one for this mission. I have given Commander Javik plenty of space, however he has still shown nothing but hostilities towards EDI and myself. I do not wish to jeopardize the mission due to our inability to cooperate."

Shepard finished suiting up in his armor. "That's why I think this will be a good mission for the two of you to get along. We land, find the scouts and get out. I'm hoping it's going to be that simple."

"Given the terms you gave the rachni queen, they should not be a threat, unless the krogans were the ones who initiated an assault."

The elevator doors opened and Javik walking out. He glanced to Decibel, with nothing but contempt, "Machine." Decibel didn't respond, instead, he stepped aside to let Javik retrieve his particle rifle. With the team on their way to the LZ, Javik walked up to Shepard, "Has there been any change in the situation, Commander?"

"Our backup is waiting for us at the drop point. Aralakh Company. Krogan commandos."

"_That's correct._" EDI continued over the radio, "_They are an accomplished unit. Made famous for their decisive action in liberating a colony from batarian pirates._"

"Good to hear. Other than that, there's been no word from a team of krogan scouts since they went through the rachni relay."

Decibel felt uneasy, "Commander several Autobots have compared krogans to Decepticons, calling them organic Brutes. Would their scouting party not have come prepared for combat?"

"We don't know much, but no rachni activity has been reported."

"_Still, it's troubling there are rumors at all. It's been years since you released the last rachni queen on the condition she disappear forever. She was desperate to save her race._"

"Just be ready for anything." As the team disembarked from the shuttle, Shepard spotted a familiar krogan among Aralakh Company, "Grunt?"

"Shepard?" A young-looking krogan whose headplates have yet to fuse together pushed his way forward, "Heh! Shepard!" smacking his shoulder as he laughed with joy.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same question. Didn't those idiots lock you up?"

"They did. Put me in lockdown to keep the batarians off me. Didn't want problems with the Council while they prepared for war. But the situation changed."

"Yeah, they got bigger problems, all right. It's why I'm out here running Aralakh Company." Grunt looked back to his men, "They're tough, think they're invincible. Reckless, but effective."

Shepard was smiling, "Sounds familiar, Grunt. How did you go from being new and unproven to your own command?"

"Wasn't easy. When Wrex put Aralakh Company together he needed a leader who represented the future of our species. Thanks to you, I completed my Rite of Passage on Tuchanka and became part of Clan Urdnot. I was an equal. And being the strongest, I was chosen to lead this honored company."

"I bet some didn't like a tank-bred krogan being in charge."

"I collected a few scars earning my place here. These krogan respect me." Grunt then noticed Decibel and his Autobot insignia, "Glad to see Autobots also come in organic sizes. We might need the extra firepower."

Decibel looked through his records. "You are in reference to Warpath."

"Yeah. Have an army of him in your size we could've rolled through this place without having to wait."

Shepard smiled, "You were a pain in the ass, Grunt, but if your krogan are half the soldier you are, we might make it out of here."

"Heh. Glad you're here to crack some heads, Shepard. Hard to believe this might be rachni. Seems crazy. The rachni!" fantasizing for a moment, "A chance to face the old enemy? Impossible to resist!"

Javik walked closer, "Yes, you are the one. The krogan who occupied my quarters on the Normandy. You left your mark."

"What?" Grunt turned to the Prothean with some confusion, "Who is this, Shepard?"

Javik however continued, "You shouldn't be so anxious to face the rachni. They were formidable opponents, even to my people."

Grunt turned to Shepard again, who put up his hand, "Ask me later."

"Whatever you say."

Shepard however tried to curb Grunt's excitement, "We don't know if the rachni had anything to do with this. We're here to find the scouts. I didn't see any signs of activity during our approach."

"Agreed. But this place smells wrong. Like a bad wound. Our scans show the tunnels down there lead to a large central point. If we're lucky, it's a nest."

Decibel was also rather cautious, "Encountering a rachni nest would be very dangerous."

Grunt just started to laugh his signature chuckle before turning back to his men, "Aralakh Company—move out! Grab what you need, Shepard. Meet you at the scout camp ahead."

"Sounds good."

* * *

Meanwhile on Tuchanka, Tarquin Victus, commander of the 9th Platoon, was sent on a mission from the Primarch to ensure the bomb, planted by the turians centuries ago, was safely disarmed before anyone could use it. In an attempt to keep their approach hidden, Tarquin had their ship approach through a narrowed path in an effort to meet less resistance. However Reaper forces ambushed them, and with little room to maneuver, the ship was brought down. Victus and his men abandoned ship, separated by Reaper forces.

As they tried to defend themselves from the Reaper assault, some of them noticed unusual occurrences. The Reapers were fighting against another force, unseen by the turians, though they were eliminating the Reaper creatures.

One of the surviving pods looked with curiosity as to what had helped them, but before they could see it, a Reaper Harvester arrived on their position. Taking cover to engage, the turians were prepared to fight, however the Harvester wasn't interested in them. From the ground across the riven popped several insect based robots as they attacked the Harvester, tearing into it and consuming it. The Harvester attempted to destroy them but there were too many for it to fight off.

As the swarm of massive robot insects consumed the remains of the Harvester, more of them started to converge on the turians. "Starving…starving…starving… Feed…feed…feed…"

The turians tried stopping them, but their Phaestons were doing nothing. From within the swarm one of them changed to a more humanoid form, though it still retained many of its insect-like qualities, the purple shell on its back and horn-cannon on its head. "Turians…why are you here on Tuchanka?"

"We…it's classified…"

"Then there's nothing stopping my swarm from consuming you."

As the swarm crept closer one of the turians finally shouted, "A bomb! We're here to disarm a bomb located in the Kelphic Valley!"

The humanoid robot raised its hand, stopping the others. "We have a new feast my children."

As they were leaving, the turian shouted to it, "Wait! We still have comrades out there, scattered. The Reapers are hunting them now."

The robot paused for a moment. "My children, there are more technorganics that we can consume. We feed on these morsels before the main course." The robot changed into large beetle as they all went underground, assumedly to devour the Reaper forces and save their comrades.

* * *

**A/N:** Megatron in disrepair, Insecticons on Tuchanka, and Autobots desperately holding the line, things are starting to look grim for the Cybertronians.


	8. Chapter 8

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

* * *

**AN:** Back to more krogan action.

* * *

Back on Utukku, Shepard spoke with Grunt about the situation, and learn more about Aralakh Company. As Shepard was about to enter the portable unit, Decibel stopped him, "Commander, this structure and the ground that support it do not seem very stable."

"And it will undoubtedly fall should your weight enter it, Machine," Javik quickly scowled at Decibel.

"Javik's right. Just wait here until we cross."

As Shepard and Javik crossed about half way, the extra weight finally tipped it. "Look out! The whole thing's coming down!" Grunt was getting his men back as Decibel desperately attempted to hold onto the structure. Grunt finally pulled Decibel back before he went with them, "Get back!"

After the tumble, Shepard and Javik were no worse for ware, as the structure was caught by one of the rocks. "Javik, you alright?"

Javik jumped out of the structure, unharmed. Grunt and Decibel looked down the hole, "Shepard! You in one piece?"

He waved back to them, "Looks like we're all okay. Keep in radio contact."

"On our way."

Decibel looked to Shepard then back to Grunt's group. "I cannot allow you to go undermanned, Commander." Decibel split into his two components, Noise and Graphy, as the dromaeosaur continued alongside Grunt and the pteranodon flew down to Shepard.

"I'll assume you can't speak now." Graphy shook his head as he kept to the air, away from Javik. Graphy flew on ahead to scout the area in advance. As he did he was now circling something. "I see it, Graphy. Grunt, got a body of a scout here. Been dead a few days."

"_Yeah? If he has his weapon, grab it. He won't need it anymore._"

Graphy's advance was also stopped by an unusual substance. Javik took a look not touching as though familiar to him, "Webbing."

"Looks like it." Graphy then used the laser guns attached to his wings to cut through the webs.

* * *

Back on the higher ground, Grunt and Aralakh Company now had the 'distinct' honor of having Noise working with them. Grunt turned to the blue bot, "So you're like a mini-Dinobot?" Noise roared, half excited that someone was willing to put him in league with Grimlock and his group. "Well then we're practically invincible now! Alright Aralakh we're moving!" Noise took point, not wanting to be out shown by the krogan.

* * *

Continuing into the cavern they found strange pods that reacted to Graphy's presence, exploding as he flew past them. As they reached a new level Javik turned, "Those cords, Shepard. Reaper technology."

"Maybe." Graphy cut way and the next set of webbing to an open cavern with light. Suddenly one of the other openings started to have activity as Graphy started shouting for them to look. A Reaper creature crawled out, an augmented rachni as it was screeching. "Grunt, we got company!"

"_Light 'em up, Shepard._"

A device activated, pulsing with biotic power. Graphy opened fire on the device, destroying it before it could do whatever it was designed to do. The Reaper creature started firing at Graphy, though the Autobot easily evade the rounds, leaving it open for Shepard and Javik to attack.

Graphy spotted husks rushing toward them, turning around to slice through them with his lasers, though it also gave the rachni the chance to hit Graphy out of the air. "Graphy!" the diminutive Autobot moved his wings, signifying he was still online.

Javik finished the rachni with the particle rifle as the body dissipated. "Rachni confirmed, Commander. Better they are destroyed."

Shepard was with Graphy making sure he could still fly. With Grpahy back in the air, Shepard tapped his earpiece, "Grunt, rachni presence confirmed. Modified and very dangerous."

"_Finally, something to kill! Nothing here yet. Almost lost a krogan to a sinkhole. This mini-Grimlock guy ain't too bad._" Noise's roar could be heard over the comm now.

Graphy flew on ahead again, forcing more pods to destroy themselves before Shepard or Javik had to deal with them. "The breeding ground must be here. The Reapers are protecting an asset of great significance." As they were now on higher ground they could see more machines left by the Reapers, "The Reapers have left their mark."

"Agreed. Let's find out why."

Javik moved closer to the metal wall, "Blocked, Shepard. There must be a way to open it."

Graphy was hovering above them when his sensors detected a very subtle energy reading. It appeared for only a moment, but he had a general idea as to where it came from. He cut through another web and perched himself again the Reaper node responsible from the barrier. "Nice work, Graphy." Shepard picked up the dead krogan's flamethrower and used it to burn the node.

"Very good, for a machine." Graphy didn't seem to mind. There was another web blocking their path. Shepard burned the webbing away but as it disintegrated an unsettling noise started to resonate within the cavern.

Shepard looked up and saw the rocks above them were actually being supported by the web and barrier. "Move!" Shepard jumped out of the way as Graphy grabbed Javik's shoulders with his feet as he flew them out of the boulder's path of destruction. "Looks like we've finding another way out of here. Come on!"

"_What was that noise, Shepard? Sounded bad._"

Shepard turned back to the boulder, "Cave-in. We're all right."

"_Good. Didn't want to dig you out._"

"That hurts my feelings, Grunt."

"_Yeah, yeah._" As Graphy scouted ahead again, popping more of the pods before Shepard and Javik had to worry about it. Though as he moved forward Grunt came back on the radio, "_Shepard, I know what happened to the scouts._"

"What did you find?"

"_They got hit hard. The leader ordered them to carry weapons deep into the caves. He knew the next team would need help._"

"They died making sure we could make it to the central chamber. Come on!"

* * *

Tarquin Victus and the survivors of the 9th Platoon were able to gather again, though Reaper forces had them pinned again. It wasn't until the metal insects that have been helping them did the tide turn, as Reaper creatures were pulled under the sands never to be seen again. Another Harvester attempted to eliminate them however more of the metal insects attacked it, tearing the monstrosity to pieces as they started to devour everything from it. Even after all of them were finished, the swarm started to chatter aloud, in unison, "Hungry…hungry…hungry…"

The insect robot from before appeared before them once more, pushing himself in front of the swarm as Victus moved to meet him. "Tarquin Victus of the 9th Platoon. I'm not sure who I'm thanking for the rescue? Are you Autobots?"

The swarm started to laugh hysterically, though the robot himself was not. "We are not weakling Autobots! We are Insecticons! And we are only interested in this bomb to consume," turning back to the rest of the swarm, "so that our numbers can continue to grow!" The swarm seemed to get excited now as the Insecticon turned to Victus, "So will you turians continue with this mission, or will you turn backs and leave it to us?"

Victus turned to his men, beaten and a shell of their full strength, but he couldn't let his father down. Not after being given this mission to ensure peace between the turians and the krogan. "No! We will move on the bombsite too. We have to see with our own eyes that this bomb has been disarmed or destroyed."

"No we don't!" His men have lost all motivation. "Who cares if a bunch of krogan die? The mission is over!"

Victus understood the feeling as he also felt the mission was impossible, but after what happened on the Citadel a year ago, "We are turian! And we will not let Cerberus succeed! Are we to say that the 9th Platoon allowed Decepticons to care out our mission for us? Our sacrifice is the difference between life and death for this entire galaxy! Let the heroes of the 9th Platoon be remembered for performing their duties with bravery! All right, men! Shuttles are arriving any minute—we're moving out!"

They seemed hesitant for a moment, but seeing the swarm before them, and so long as they don't decide to turn on them, they might actually have a chance of pulling this off. They all saluted Victus as they got their equipment ready for the assault. The Insecticon leader changed back into its bug form, "Then we will see you and this Cerberus at the Kelphic Valley." Before Victus could respond to it the swarm burrowed back underground.

* * *

Shepard found a dying message left by one of the scouts and another opening filled with Reaper creatures and eggs. They found Grunt, Noise and the other krogans stuck by a Reaper wall, the node of which Graphy was able to destroy before they were overrun. As the team joined Shepard, the rachni started to retreat. Grunt and Noise were the last to jump down, and the two Autobots became one again. "Thanks, Shepard. That wasn't webbing stopping us. That was Reaper tech."

"We ran into it, too."

Grunt looked at the destroyed node for a moment, "The rachni have backed off for now, but they can smell our wounds. Any worthy enemy would regroup and finish us. Soon."

"We're close, Grunt." Shepard pointed behind him, "Those barriers were protecting whatever's down that passage."

Grunt looked back, seeing the bend, "Well dig in here, kill anything that moves, buy you some time."

"Good luck."

"I don't need luck. I have ammo." Shepard smiled, seeing how far he's grown. "Krogan! Get ready!"

Decibel turned to Grunt, "Noise would wish for me to convey his gratitude for the complements earlier, you referring to him as a Dinobot and a mini-Grimlock in particular." Decibel moved down the passage, using his Fire Blasters to burn away at the eggs there. "Commander, should I accompany you, or should I split up again?"

Shepard looked back, "I think they can handle it. I'd like to have all hands available this time."

There was a small crawl space the team was forced to go through. After they reached the other side Javik started to look around in confusion, "That does not look like a rachni nest."

"Grunt, we've located the central chamber."

"_Good! We got your back, Shepard!_"

However as the team jumped down to the lower level it seem to have triggered a trap. "Move it!" Walls were erected around them before one cut them off from their objective. "Damn it!"

Decibel split himself into his two halves, Graphy flew over the barriers as Noise burned the node keeping them in. The node controlled the left barrier as more Reaper creatures appeared. Graphy left them to it as he flew over to the right side. As Reaper forces started to swarm the area, Noise plowed his way through, stomping a few husks along the way as he used his Fire Blasters to burn one of the rachni and another Reaper node.

Graphy also found another node and used his lasers to destroy it. As it was destroyed a strange noise echoed throughout the cavern, causing the remaining husks to retreat. "_Shepard, the rachni are backing off. Whatever spooked them won't last. Finish the job._"

"Copy that." Graphy and Noise combined as Shepard and Javik moved to the last barrier.

The found a massive rachni, chained to the area along with several of the krogan scouts webbed to the wall. "Si…lence…"

One of the dead krogan started speaking. Decibel took a closer look, "Fascinating."

Now all of the krogan were resonating with one another as they spoke, "The…maddening sour note has ceased."

Shepard cautiously moved closer, "What are you?"

The rachni raised her head, communicating through the dead krogan, "The last queen. We listen for the children…they are silent, hollow. The machines come and take them to war. They die alone, silent, far away."

Decibel looked to her restrains, "The Reapers did this to you?"

"Yes. The sour not of the machines is everywhere."

Shepard turned back to her, "I let you go back on Noveria. You promised not to interfere anymore. The rachni were supposed to disappear."

"We remember. We kept our promise, retreated back through the relay. We started a new home." Javik looked to one of the krogan webbed to a wall, waving a hand in front of it, "Beautiful children. Harmony. But…the machines came," the queen started to thrash as the voices also echoed her anger, "They heard our song. Their shriek of sour notes drowned us out."

"They can't hurt you anymore."

"Yes, we…understand."

"Can you still feel the Reapers? Can they influence you?"

"We hear the machines, but they cannot control us. Remove this last shackle and we are free." There was an echo that resonated, "What? The children return. They will destroy us all. Release us!"

"_We're getting movement here. A lot of movement…_"

Decibel looked around, "Confirmed, unidentified audio sources moving in from multiple directions."

"Copy that, Grunt." Shepard turned back to the queen, "Are you capable of fighting the Reapers?"

"We hate the machines. We will fight for our unborn children. Release us!"

"_Shepard, we're out of time. We stay here, Aralakh Company dies! Is that clear?_"

Decibel moved to the node, smashing it with his fist. "Commander, order Aralakh Company to retreat. We will escort the queen to a safe destination. I will contact the _Normandy_ once she has been cleared."

Shepard turned to Decibel, "No you don't have to do this."

"Commander, this is the only option we have where all organics can survive. These are Optimus' orders. This is the purpose of an Autobot, ensuring the right of all sentient beings. Grunt, Aralakh Company can fall back. The situation with the queen has been resolved. Retrieve the Commander and return to the shuttle."

"_About time! Aralakh Company, get your asses back to the shuttle! Move! Shepard! I'm on my way!_"

The queen herself was unsure about Decibel, being a machine, though as he split into Noise and Graphy the two were going to protect her with their lives, and she could see it in Graphy's optics. Graphy paused only to confirm Grunt had begun escorting Shepard and Javik back to the surface, and with that the two of them led the queen out. Standard protection detail, Graphy would remain close to her person as Noise took point and destroyed any Reaper creature that stood in their path.

* * *

With Grunt and Aralakh Company in the shuttle, Shepard had Cortez circle the area, waiting to hear anything from their Autobot companion. It was utter silence as nothing was moving. Suddenly something blasted its way through one of the mountains. The size suggested it was some time of pod or a personal shuttle large enough for a rachni queen. From the opening Graphy flew out with Noise in tow as the angrier of the two continued to spout fire down the hole. The shuttle door opened as they made space for the two to land inside and combine. "Decibel!"

Decibel started to rotate his joints, "Commander Shepard. I did not think you would have found me so quickly. I would request time for personal maintenance."

"After that, I think you deserve something better."

* * *

Returning to the _Normandy_, Shepard reported the situation to Hackett. Though he was skeptical about trusting the rachni, Shepard assured him that the rachni only wish to be left in peace and to see the Reapers defeated.

After speaking with Wrex, Victus was speaking with Decibel. "Are you sure?"

"Given the data you have provided, I am unfortunately certain of it. Though, it is unusual to say the least." Decibel spotted Shepard's advance, "Commander. There is…"

Victus stopped Decibel. "I'll tell him." Victus seemed a bit uneasy, though he wasn't going to lie now, "Commander Shepard, remember our discussion about the platoon on Tuchanka? I just received a message from their lieutenant. They were saved by Insecticons."

"Insecticons?"

"Correct. A subspecies originating from the deep recesses of Cybertron. With Cybertron slowly shutting down, energon has become scare, forcing lifeform previously unknown to us to the surface. Few are capable of transformation, and those are believed to be the originals. Most are mindless creatures focused solely on survival, consumption and reproduction. It is unusual because the Insecticons saved the turian forces. Under normal conditions they would have devoured or destroyed them. The turians must have given the Insecticons something to entice their appetite in exchange for saving their lives."

"Right. Primarch?"

Victus looked to the holodisplay of the Crucible, "As I said, it's highly classified. But if you could, I would be very appreciative if you investigated the situation further."

Decibel looked to Victus, "I will investigate as well. The very fact that Insecticons have infested Tuchanka without our knowledge has me troubled. Who knows what other settled worlds the Decepticons could have potentially infected."

* * *

**A/N:** Unusual twist after another, how will Cerberus fair against an Autobot Minicon and a swarm of Insecticons?


	9. Chapter 9

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

* * *

**AN:** Had a real bad case of writer's block on this one. Yeah, had to up the rating just because of the Insecticons(you'll see why soon enough).

* * *

On their way to Tuchanka, to the coordinates Victus gave them, Shepard, Decibel, Garrus and James were set to find the 9th Platoon and the Insecticons. "Turian 9th Platoon, this is Commander Shepard. Do you read me?"

"_Commander Shepard, this is the 9th Platoon. Lieutenant Tarquin Victus reporting._"

"Victus?" James turned to Garrus, "That the Primarch's name."

Garrus whispered amongst themselves, knowing who he is, "He has a lot to live up to, being the son of Adrien Victus. It's a big military name on Palaven. War is expected to run in the Victus blood."

Decibel moved up, "Lieutenant, this is Decibel of the Autobots. May we inquire as to your mission? The Primarch was rather reserve in his discussions."

"_There's a bomb on Tuchanka…and Cerberus has it._"

Decibel turned to Shepard, "An explosive device, even inert, could prove valuable to the Insecticons."

Shepard looked back to Decibel with concern, "What do you mean?"

"The Insecticons have been observed consuming all known matter on Cybertron, however they are like any Cybertronian, without an energy source they will eventually shut down. But if this bomb has enough energy, the Insecticons could feed off of it for some time and reproduce exponentially."

Shepard checked his weapon, making sure Wheeljack's modifications were all functioning, "Right. Talk to me more about this Cerberus bomb."

Victus' head lowered, "_It's not Cerberus, Commander. It's…turian._"

Shepard quickly looked back to the monitor, "What do you mean 'turian'?"

"_It was planted centuries ago, after the Krogan Rebellions. The bomb was a safeguard against another galactic war._"

Garrus walked over, "Brutal, but it makes a certain kind of sense. Put the krogan down hard if they tried anything."

Decibel had other view on the matter, "These tactics are rather Decepticon in nature. The reasons behind them are still inexcusable."

Shepard agreed, "You won't earn trust with tactics like that. But right now, we focus on disarming that bomb."

"_Yes, but Cerberus found it. Detonation means all-out war between my people and the krogan. And we can't let the Insecticons get to it either._"

"Right. Where is it?"

"_Those buildings ahead. Cerberus brought equipment to dig it up. The Ninth Platoon will cover your flank, Commander._"

Decibel could feel the flak as they got closer, "Krogan forces will undoubtedly notice all of this activity soon enough."

"_Then we can't fail._"

Shepard loaded his rifle, "Copy that, Lieutenant." As the shuttle lowered them through the flak, the doors opened to an unsightly scene, Insecticons of varying sizes were openly engaging Cerberus forces. Cerberus troopers weren't even bothering with Shepard or the shuttle, the flak was to keep the flying Insecticons at bay, for what little good that did.

One of the Insecticons grabbed a soldier by his feet and pulling him underground as one of the flying Insecticons pinned another to the ground as others started to crawl over, "Get them off me!" slowly ripping him apart, organ by organ, consume his entrails, armor and weapons.

Decibel rushed out of the shuttle using this Fire Blasters to burn the Insecticons as he smashed his fist into a few or crushed them with his feet while avoiding the Cerberus soldiers. The Insecticons didn't seem to care about Decibel's assault, rather they left those under attack to deal with him as the swarm continued to devour more Cerberus soldiers that were attempting to slow them down with no success other than when they stopped to consume them.

Garrus turned to Shepard, "So who do we fight, the Cons or Cerberus?"

Despite the size difference, Decibel was putting a rather large dent in the larger Insecticons. "We mop up Cerberus and help Decibel if he needs it."

* * *

The Decepticons were still largely in the dark about Megatron's status as Soundwave continued with the repairs. All repairs had been completed as well as various alterations. Soundwave was infusing Megatron was Dark Energon to finally revive their leader, "Balancing auditory sensors. Optic circuits online."

Megatron was slow to regain awareness as he started to look around, "Where—am—I?"

Soundwave stood before Megatron, "The _Nemesis_' repair bay."

"What happened? What about the Reapers?"

"You took a direct blast from a Sovereign-class Reaper's primary weapon. You created a Dark Energon field that absorbed most of the blast, however enough broke through nearly extinguishing your spark." Soundwave then displayed an image of their new fleet, "The Reapers who attacked have been converted or destroyed. Operation: Reclamation underway for upgrades and repair."

"Speaking of upgrades," Knock Out and his flashy red chassis walked into Megatron's view, "We took this opportunity to upgrade your fusion cannon." Flatline was carrying the weapon in both sets of hands, "It now as the ability to blast a hole into a Reaper's hull with a single shot, once you get past the kinetic barrier of course."

"Und I have taken ze liberty uf upgrade your design personally." Scalpel descended onto Megatron's head as he started to crawl over to his shoulder, "Ze armour plating ist stronger, more durable. Und you can tear ze Reapar armour vith your bare hands!"

Megatron quickly grabbed the small finicky doctor, nearly crushing him with his new power, "Never improve upon perfection, Scalpel."

"Yes…yes Lord Megatron…" Once released, Scalpel scurried away to a safe distance outside of his reach.

Soundwave transformed into his recorder form as a panel from the wall opened to pull him in. "Megatron, there is something you need to see." One of the monitors brought up the message sent by Reaper Shockwave, "This was broadcasted to most of the galaxy during our engagement. Decepticons on Parnack and Turvess have intercepted the transmission before the organics witnessed it."

Megatron silently watched the video as his anger started to quickly build. Reaching his peak before the message ended, Megatron slammed his fist into his hand as he roared, his cry echoing throughout the ship. He then proceeded to ripping the mechanical arms holding him in place during his reconstruction before he roared again and a pulse of Dark Energon was released overloading a few systems and energizing others. "Soundwave, I have a message of my own to send, to both the Reapers and the galaxy."

* * *

As Shepard's team continued to fight through the Cerberus and the Decepticons, Shepard noticed rather unusual behavior from their Autobot companion. "Decibel are you alright?"

"All systems are functional. We must press forward quickly. We have no time to expend on small talk."

Shepard was keeping up with Decibel as the Autobot continued onward, "That's not what I asked. You're not exactly yourself right now."

"I'm sorry Commander, but you have not seen what a hive of starved Insecticons are willing to consume. They are relentless, if not dimwitted. Damage a few and the swarm will turn on them while the rest who don't get enthralled by the frenzy continue to press onward. An infestation of Insecticons is nearly as bad as a case of scraplets, once they take root they are near impossible to completely remove."

"How bad could it get?"

Decibel turned back to Garrus, "This bomb could be the first ample energy source they've consumed for some time now. However, should energy production startup and they get their fangs even on a portion of it, they would begin reproducing at an accelerated rate."

"Accelerated rate? These bugs look like they're already on Viagra."

"Unfortunately Mr. Vega, we have not seen Insecticon production at their max potential. Cybertron was dying before our exodus to this galaxy, and Insecticon reproduction was slightly more than what we are currently seeing on Tuchanka. By the time we first encountered them they were starting to salvage energy from the surface and anything else that still had power. However I pray to Primus that we never see the day their reproduction get any higher."

The team rushed to the bomb site where Victus and his men had set up a perimeter around the controls, "I'm at the control panel, Commander. Cerberus set up a firewall around the trigger mechanism to slow us down. I need to create a bypass. That'll take time. But like you said: no trigger, no explosion."

Shepard walked over the Victus to see his progress, "I'll make sure you have the time you need, Lieutenant."

"Understood. Starting bypass." Victus had a few trick he tried to use to fasten the process. Suddenly one of his men had a hole in his head as he fell. Decibel threw out of arms, blocking the next shot from hitting Victus or the other soldier, "Commander!"

Shepard was already in cover after the first shot, "Focus on the bomb! We'll handle Cerberus."

Decibel crated a wall of fire, blocking any view of Victus as Shepard's squad moved down to hold Cerberus off. "Detonation protocol in jeopardy! Shepard's blocking access! All units, engage!"

As Cerberus shuttles flew in to drop troops off, the ground around them started to shake. It was the Insecticons, and they were already in the process of consuming the bomb's support structure. "Insecticons, swarm!" Bursting through the ground several flying Insecticons of varying sizes started to land on the shuttles to get at the Cerberus soldiers or to just bring them down so the others could feast as well.

James threw a grenade into a mess of Insecticons that had a Cerberus trooper surrounded, a mercy to the soldier as the machines tore through his charred remains to get to his implants. A group of Insecticons even found the sniper, bringing her down to the masses below as she was quickly torn limb from limb in the frenzy. A massive Insecticon burst out of the ground in front of Decibel, revealing itself to be the leader as it transformed to his humanoid form. "Autobot…" He then turned his sights to the bomb and Victus. "That energy is ours! It will feed the swarm!"

Decibel stood his ground against the taller bot, ready to fight if he had to, "That bomb has been set to detonate at any moment. We have to disarm it."

"I couldn't agree more. But we won't let its energy go to waste like you, Autobot." With a snap of his fingers the ground started to tremor once more before tiny thresher maws found their way to the bomb and latched onto the legs that had suspended the device high in the air, crushing the metal legs to bring it down to the pit it was suspended over. "Leave Autobot, and we will spare you and your organic allies, for now."

With his message conveyed the Decepticon didn't wait for Decibel to acknowledge him, burrowing back underground to join in on the frenzy of his fellow Insecticons. "Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Victus. The mission is a failure. We must order an immediate evacuation of the area."

Shepard turned back to see Victus backing away from the console as smaller than average thresher maws were assisting the Insecticons in dragging the bomb down. "Cortez, we need an immediate evac. Hot zone extraction on my location."

"_Roger that, Commander. Will be there in two._"

"Hey Esteban, I think you might want to move it. These bugs look ready to chomp on more than just Cerberus down here."

Decibel split into Noise and Graphy as his pteranodon form hastened this, carrying Victus and his men to the _Normandy_ shuttle, keeping them a good distance away from the Insecticons. As Graphy continued with the evacuation of the survivors, Noise was getting himself involved in the action, tearing into the Insecticons as though he was Grimlock, forcing Garrus and Shepard to provide him with much needed covering fire.

Cerberus forces eventually deployed an Atlas mech to try and contain the situation. Even though it managed to crush a few Insecticons upon landing an blast them with the mass accelerator cannon and rockets, the slow moving mech was quickly overpowered by the sheer numbers as they enjoyed the meaty morsel inside and the mech's power cells.

With the collapse of the bomb's support struts, the shuttle lowered down to pick up Shepard and the others while Graphy provided aerial support to keep the Insecticons off the shuttle itself. There were a few close calls with the cockpit, but Graphy maintained the skies long enough for the team to get in and flee the area.

They watched the Insecticon swarm quickly mass themselves over the structure in mere moments, dismantling it and devour all of its components rather quickly. Inside the shuttle Decibel fused back together, though he could not help but feel terrible as he watched the swarm consume. "Forgive me Commander, we have other matters we have to attend to on Tuchanka but we could not risk invoking the Insecticon wrath before the genophage cure could be implemented."

Shepard placed his hand on Decibel, "No, you were just thinking about your mission and ours to forge the krogan-turian alliance. And I thank you for helping keep us all alive."

Decibel still felt like this was a major failure on his part. "I shall warn Autobot forces on Tuchanka of the greater Insecticon presence now on the planet. Hopefully they can properly prepare should the Insecticons decide to assault the krogan clans."

* * *

Before the shuttle could even return to the _Normandy_, Joker was in a bit of a panic, "_Commander!_"

"What is it, Joker?"

"_Trouble. I'm tapping you guys in now._"

It took several moments but the monitors in the shuttle soon adjusted to show Megatron, and it appears he has gone through some upgrades. His armor seemed heavier and thicker than before, the only things that seemed the same, physically, was his head and fusion cannon. "…_know that the Reapers will fall to my will,_" gripping his fist the camera quickly turned out to a viewport where a small Reaper fleet surrounded them as well as the debris of fallen Reapers, all of the Reapers within intact were emitting a purple glow as the Decepticon insignia was being etched onto their hulls. The image quickly returned to Megatron, "_I…am the dominator! I…am the destroyer! I am MEGATRON! And I send this message to inform all who would be foolish enough to accept the offer of the Reapers and submit to their abomination they call evolution, know that your existence will be short lived before I extinguish you and your master! Know that you will serve as examples for my empire that will rise from the ashes of the Reapers!_"

The image then turned to Shockwave, unaltered and in pristine condition, "_Indeed. I have tapped into the Reapers and their collective database. I have learned this other me is a mere sub faction that will be eliminated soon enough._"

The camera panned back to Megatron, "_To combat such power as the Reapers an even greater power is needed to snuff them out. I am that power. Do not mire yourself in such frivolous thoughts that the Autobots can protect you against such a foe, or against my wrath. For once the Reapers are no more, all will submit or perish!_"

As abruptly as the message appeared, Megatron's message suddenly ended. Garrus quickly turned to Decibel, "So I guess that truly confirms that the Cons aren't with the Reapers. Can't say I feel better knowing they are converting Reapers to fight other Reapers and then plan on sending them us."

"I can't exactly say it was not expected." Decibel continued to gaze at the deactivate monitor. "I am slightly curious as to why Megatron's retaliation message to Reaper Shockwave took so long for him to compose and what his upgrades entail."

* * *

Megatron's message quickly spread to the galaxy, though Soundwave did not transmit the message to the worlds already under Decepticon 'protection'. And with Megatron back in power, Slipstream no longer had a reason to delegate her duties, though she knew she had to do something about the raloi leader. _Accidently step on him…too messy… Leaving it to the Reapers isn't reliable enough… I know…_

With her wicked smile, Slipstream started to pull up the files Soundwave had acquired on Commander Shepard. Her answer was now staring her in the face, and though it won't guarantee his death, it will guarantee he won't interfere with Decepticon affairs.

* * *

**A/N:** Yep, Insecticons are real nasty pieces of work. Forgot to factor them in when it comes to the rating. Aw well, can't cry over spill milk(or blood/motor oil for the Insecticons).


	10. Chapter 10

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

* * *

**AN:** I found my inspirational spark(yes pun intended).

* * *

With Megatron's messaged received by all he had intended and what little information he had received from his men sent to Tuchanka about robotic insects, the Illusive Man wanted to get his hands on more Cybertronian tech, starting with him. "Doctor Fujiyama. I believe it is time to field test Project Nightbird."

"_But Illusive Man, there are still many stress tests we need to preform…_"

"Now doctor, or do you want me to reassign you to one of the Collector projects?"

Doctor Fujiyama's bowed, "_Right away. I'll send five units to your desired destination._"

"Good. Then get them to Tasale before the Decepticons leave the system."

"_We're already pitting them against the Decepticons? But we don't know if…_"

"Are you questioning me, doctor?"

"_No sir, I was just expressing my concern that they might not be capable of destroying them all._"

"They won't be." The Illusive Man pulled up the latest message to be broadcasted to the entire galaxy, "Have their target be Megatron. Separate the head from a snake and the rest will follow suit."

* * *

Back within the _Normandy_, Wrex wasn't exactly taking the news any better than expected. "We couldn't risk another galactic war with the krogan!"

"The genopahge wasn't enough? You had to plant a bomb on my planet!"

"The decision was made hundreds of years ago. So much has changed!"

"Not enough to tell us about the bomb, coward!" Before Wrex went any further against Victus, he turned his attention to Decibel, "And you! You know about the bug robots on my world!"

"I was not informed until the turian forces were rescued by them. Primarch Victus requested I be discrete about the matter until we could truly confirm their…"

"Confirm? I have robot bugs on my world now that want to devour everything! I think you needed to do more than just confirm."

"I am truly sorry I could not deal with the swarm. Their numbers were fare too many for us to handle. And the Insecticon leader has shown to be capable of summoning or commanding infantile thresher maws."

Shepard stepped in now, "Well get them off your world soon enough. The Autobots on Tuchanka are probably at work locating and exterminating nest sites. Isn't that right," turning back to Decibel.

"That is correct, Commander. I have been informed by Warpath that they have begun scanning for Insecticon activity as we speak. They will protect your clans as best as they can."

Wrex grunted, "Fine," walking away from the trio in a fit.

* * *

The Autobots on Earth were now using a natural cave formation within an inactive volcano the humans named Mount St. Hilary to defend them and give Wheeljack a place to continue his experiments uninterrupted. "I think I got it! I think I got it!" an explosion shook the cavern as black smoke rushed out of Wheeljack's lab. The Autobot walked out of there covered in soot. "Why does it always happen to me…"

After the twelfth explosion the humans were getting used to it, thought it didn't exactly help morale. Anderson was speaking with Bumblebee away from the other to discuss Megatron's broadcast. "Do you really think Megatron is capable of doing what he's saying?"

"He has a bloated ego, but he usually had the firepower to back it. Now that he's converting Reapers to fight for him, well…Personally, hope this Crucible thing can do what everyone is promising."

"Well with Autobot engineers and the Alliance helping them I have no doubt that they'll be able to construct it."

Bumblebee turned back as another explosion erupted from within the cave, "Let's just hope that Wheeljack can actually get that energon formula down right."

* * *

With everything set to cure the genophage, the _Normandy_ picked up a Reaper Destroyer standing guard at the Shroud facility. The very facility they would need to cure the genophage and the Reaper was using it to poison Tuchanka's atmosphere.

As the team moved to the planet, Wrex turned to Shepard, "I've ordered the clans to assemble at the Hollows. It's our sacred meeting ground. We'll land there and take an armored convoy against the Reaper, with Autobot support. This will be the defining moment of krogan history."

Mordin adjusted himself in his seat, "Krogan history filled with many defining moments. Most bloody. Hope this one better."

Decibel walked over and checked on his own systems when Eve saw something on Shepard's face. "Commander, you seemed troubled."

"I got a message from—"

An explosion rocked the shuttle before they were contacted by krogan forces. "_Wrex, its Warpath! We're stopping as many as we can, but the tiny Reapers have breached the Hallows! Come out with guns blazing, KABLAM!_"

"Hang on tight! We're heading in!" The shuttle was rocked as more flak continued to explode around them.

Wrex was already ready as Shepard and the others were getting their weapons set. As the shuttle door opened, a husk was just standing there as it stared at them. Before it could rush in to try and claw at them Wrex blasted it with his shotgun. He jumped out first as he looked back, "Shepard, keep them away from the female! I'll sort out what's happening with the other clans!"

* * *

The remaining Decepticon fleet was now fully repaired as the new Decepticon controlled Reapers were prepared to move to Megatron's next destination. Before the fleet mobilized, a small shuttle came through the mass relay on a course that would pass rather close to the _Nemesis_.

With no offensive weapons to speak of, the Decepticon gunners didn't even bother targeting it or alerting anyone who hadn't already picked it up. As the shuttle made its pass, the door opened to reveal five humanoid robots roughly the size of the average Cybertronian folded up. Once ejected from the shuttle, the five bots deployed to their true statue as they smashed through and took out the gunners before the alarm could be raised.

The leader of this team took up one of their rifles as it carefully moved up. Using the same retrained programming with EVA, the Illusive Man kept strict control over their orders as he watched them progress silently through the Decepticon ship. They only had to eliminate another Decepticon before they found the bridge. Silently each one prepared their weapon of choice as the leader quietly snuck up behind Megatron with the rifle ready to fire.

With the other Decepticons occupied with flying the ship the Nightbird drone fired only to find that Megatron was a hologram. The entire bridge they were in was nothing but a big hologram. "An impressive display my little fledglings, but it will take more than just you to take me down!" Megatron laughed, "Don't be so surprised. I was alerted to you presence the moment you entered the ship. Isn't that correct, Trypticon?"

"Yes, Lord Megatron. I watched their every move inside of me. They are impressive."

"Indeed." Megatron jumped down to them armed with only his mace. "Now come, if you think you can take me!"

The leader tossed the rifle she had acquired and grabbed for her energy sword and rushed Megatron, clashing weapons. As it did, one of the subordinates moved in with both Sais drawn to strike Megatron down. Unfortunately for the assassins, Megatron has faced opponents similar to them in the gladiatorial pits of Kaon, and against far more simultaneously. He pushed the leader back, grabbing the other one by the head, crushing it before tossing it back to the others. The thrown drone knocked two others down but the one that managed to escape being pinned rushed Megatron with nunchucks to beat him down. Megatron easily withstood the assault, allowing the drone a chance to harm him but with Scalpel's upgrades it made it so he didn't even feel a single hit.

With a strong strike of his mace, Megatron crushed the drone's left arm and a portion of her chest as he sent it flying to the wall. The leader helped the others back to their feet, devising a new strategy in an attempt to eliminate Megatron. When ready, one of the drones released a smokescreen as the others disappeared. As the two moved into position, the one still within the smoke started tossing shurikens, forcing Megatron to block them with his mace.

With Megatron on the defensive, the two drones moved to finish him off with katanas. Megatron wasn't blind to their attempted pincer maneuver, allowing a few of the throwing stars to hit him so he could jump back before the two drones could strike. Megatron then crushed one of the drones with his mace as the other jumped back before he could strike it. With only two drones left, they really had to up their strategy.

They both rush him, but with over a millennia's worth of combat experience, Megatron continued to hold the distinct advantage over the duo. The entire time Megatron had been playing with the drones, holding back everything. With a powerful strike he destroyed their swords, forcing them to rely on their other weapons, each of which he continued to prove ineffective against him. Megatron finally batted the leader against the wall before smashing the other one. Megatron grabbed the leader by the neck as he infused her directly with Dark Energon. "Now, I bestow upon you the ultimate gift your creators denied you!"

As the Dark Energon started to flow through its circuitry, the programs that retrained it and forced it to report and obey the Illusive Man were overwritten. Slowly a new sensation was starting to fill its systems, she was becoming alive. With the infusion complete the drone fell to her knees, bowing in respect and indebt to him, "I live to serve you, Lord Megatron."

Megatron smiled as he looked back to where he had jumped down from. "Constructicons, I want the other reconstructed. Our newest Decepticon needs her own unit to command." Megatron then turned back to the leader, gently rubbing the back of his hand against the side of her face, "Now what should we call you?"

"Nightbird. That was the name Cerberus used to call the project where they built us."

"Nightbird it is. And we shall have names for your sisters as well."

Nightbird bowed her head, "Milord, I still have the coordinates for the facility that created us. We were constructed from Cybertronian parts salvaged from the Second Battle of the Citadel. They were in the process of constructing more of us."

"Then we shall have more of your sisters joining us. Once the Constructicons finish with the repairs and Dark Energon flows through their circuits, we shall set our course to this facility, and uplift your other sisters from the tyranny of this Cerberus."

* * *

With an angered roar, Grimlock sliced the last leg off a Reaper Destroyer before he climbed onto it and rammed his sword into the Reaper's primary weapon. Drift drove by Grimlock handiwork while moving to his next mark, "Nice. Remind me to ask you for some sword tricks after this." Drift transformed, jumping onto a Reaper's leg as he ran up the length of it and slicing at it.

Whirl and Swoop were providing aerial support for Slug and Roadbuster. "Say horn-face, ever miss being a tank?"

Slug skewered a Reaper Brute and stomped over the rest, "Nope. Ever wish could move like me, Roadbuster."

"I'll take firepower and armor plating any day."

This assault, initiated by the Lighting Strike Coalition, was a distraction so Optimus and the other could evacuate the civilians from the turian colony. "General, is this all of your people?"

"Yes. All civilian transports are away thanks to you. Now we just have my men and were complete."

"Order your soldiers to head for the _Ark_." Optimus looked out to the battles Grimlock and his men were still waging. "Grimlock, we're preparing to leave the planet soon. Get Lighting Strike Coalition ready to disembark as soon as the _Ark_ is ready."

"_That your problem, Prime. Always running. Hesitate to give final blow. We need to stand up. If we continue like this, then soon no world be safe from them. We hold ground now or Reapers continue to push forward with no resistance._"

"That is not your call to make Grimlock! Our priorities are the lives of the organics and…"

"_And what? Organic need place to go. We need place to live! We abandon worlds like we abandon Cybertron! We need to stand and fight! Show Reapers we no give up! When last one falls, then I finish what you couldn't with Megatron._"

* * *

As the husks continued to swarm the Hollows, Decibel was burning through an number of them as Shepard used his Katana shotgun to keep them at bay with Liara's biotic assistance while Garrus was sniping as many as he could, the last line defense to Eve. With the other krogans fighting the battle was quickly finished as Wrex came out, blooded by all of the husks he killed, "They'll sing battle-songs about this someday. Reaper blood has finally soaked our soil." The Hallows echoed with the roars of the other krogan who were victorious.

"We have to get to the Shroud. The airstrike is on its way."

Among the krogan behind Wrex, Mordin emerged, "Female safe, Shepard. Vitals are strong."

"Who let the salarian and turian onto Tuchanka?" They turned to find several Blood Pack members walking toward them, the leader of the pack continued with a scowl on his face, "They aren't welcome here!"

"Multiple krogan. Problematic."

Shepard stood between this krogan and Mordin, "Who are you?"

"Jorgal Thurak. Our clan stretches back as long as there have been krogan, unlike these Urdnot whelps…" Wrex's krogan growled in disgust at Thurak, "I own varren who are older than any of them."

Wrex however didn't care, moving himself between Thurak and Shepard. "Thurak and I have an agreement. But it sways from time to time. He thinks his age is something to boast about."

"At least I'm wise enough to know salarians and turians can't be trusted."

Shepard stood his ground as Decibel walked over, "This salarian is not your enemy. He's here to help cure the genophage."

"You didn't see what they did to our people. You weren't there, human." Thurak closed the gap between himself and Shepard, "So tell me why we should even trust either of them?"

Wrex head-butted Thurak back as Wrex's krogan snarled, "Because I do. And so will you, Thurak."

The head-butt was the last insult Thurak was willing to take. Goaded by his men's growls, Thurak grabbed for his shotgun, a move that caught Decibel's optics. The tiny Autobot rushed in front of Wrex, acting as a shield as his Fire Blasters ignited.

"Enough!" That voice was enough to have Thurak pause long enough to see who stopped him. Every krogan in the Hollows turned and saw Eve. "You can stay here and let old wounds fester as krogan have always done…" walking between the two sides so she was now the center of attention, "…or you can fight the enemy you were born to destroy—and win a new future for our children. I choose to fight. Who will join me?"

Shepard quickly shouted, "I will."

"And so will I," Wrex moved to the stairs, "Now hold your heads high like true krogan! There's a Reaper that needs killing!" At first only Wrex's krogan roared with anticipation, but eventually Thurak agreed as his men roared for blood.

* * *

With the krogan loaded into Tomkah tanks, Warpath took point as the other Autobots were following behind the convoy. "_Krogan ground convoy, this is turian wing Artimec. Our flight vector to the Shroud is locked. We're ten minutes out and counting._"

"_This is Silverbolt of the Autobots. Decibel requested extra fire power. The Aerialbots have converged with Artimec wing._"

"Good to hear. Can't wait to start the fireworks! KAPOW!"

* * *

Slipstream had gathered the yahg and raloi forces in the hangar to debrief them on the upcoming assault, accompanied by a few of Soundwave's Recordicons. "This is a rescue mission we are about to partake in. We have just learned that a few of our fellow Decepticons who were thought to have been taken offline in a prior schism, were in fact still function. This news came at a terrible cost, unfortunately, but our foes will not be the Reapers. They are an organization of aliens that calls themselves Cerberus. If anyone here has any discomfort in that knowledge, then stuff it. Though they are organic, we have sources that lead us to believe they are allied with the Reapers in some way. And unlike our slaves, they will feed the rest of the galaxy to them. Any questions?"

One of the yahg raised his hand, "Yeah? What's with the robo birdies? Are we gonna tweet Cerberus into submission."

The aqua blue one flew off the box it was perched on, grabbing the yahg by his horns, "Tweet huh? Well we can tweet all we like. Howe about we tweet up here. No?"

He released his grip on his horns, as the black and red one grabbed him, keeping him aloof long enough until he was dropped to the ground with only his pride damaged. "We it would seem the pleasantries are no longer needed. These are the Recordicons, they'll be fighting alongside you today because our allies are within a space station. The talkative one is Squawktalk," pointing to the bird bot that first took the yahg for a ride. "The silent one is Laserbeak. You'll also be getting fire support from Ravage and Beastbox," displaying the black robotic feline and purple ape with shoulder mounted cannons. "Now your commanders for this mission are Rumble and Frenzy."

"Nice ta meet ya."

"Don't ya mean, 'Nice ta beat ya'?"

"Right," Slipstream stomped her foot, getting the two to shut up. "While the rest of us are dealing with the AA guns and fighters, Astrotrain and Octane will get you all into the station. From there you are to hold them off long enough for Laserbeak to hack into their systems, locate our captured brothers, and rescue them. Once they're off the station, Rumble will locate the resonance point of the station and start pounding until the station falls apart. Since you organics need an atmosphere to live, I would recommend keeping your envirosuits on the entire time as a precaution if the evacuation order is not given soon enough," glaring at Rumble.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So once I start the poundin', you start runnin'. Got me?"

The raloi were very proper, saluting to the Decepticons, and ringing out in unison, "Understood." The yahg weren't as enthusiastic, but they all understood the mission.

"Good. Now get to Astrotrain and Octane and prepare to take off! Decepticons, we are commencing operations as soon as Megatron gives the order. So all hands, battle station!"

* * *

**A/N:** I still don't think Wreav was needed when Shepard was at the Hollows. Thurak does the same job, griping over Mordin/Wiks.


	11. Chapter 11

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

* * *

Warpath was leading the krogan convoy as the rest of the Autobots were bringing up the rear. Warpath couldn't wait to start battling a Reaper, even if it was only as a distraction and it was one of the smaller ones. This excitement was suddenly halted as the road they were traveling ended. Warpath shifted back to his robot form as he started to survey the damaged road.

This unexpected stop had Wrex worried, as Decibel and Shepard's team came out to investigate. "Warpath, what's going on?"

"Sorry Commander, but the road's out. We 'bots could probably jump over this but the Tomkahs…I'm just concerned about it not being able to withstand the constant jumping back and forth."

Decibel walked over to the cracks in the road dividing into his two halves to get a better look. Noise carefully started stress testing the road as Graphy flew under to look at the road's supports. It was rather brief as the two came back together. "The structure will hold, Warpath. But we must hurry if we are to rendezvous with the Aerialbots and turian fighters."

"Got it. Autobots, we've got to do some heavy lifting here! Grab a Tomkah and get 'em over this snag in the road!"

Decibel turn to Shepard, "We must inform the flyers."

Warpath picked up the Tomkah carrying Eve and Wrex as Shepard got on the comm, "Turian wing Artimec, this is Shepard. We've been delayed—hold off your attack."

"_Negative, Commander. Our approach is locked. The Reaper already knows we're here!_"

The turian fighters flew overhead as five Autobots were with them. "An airstrike alone won't do it. We have to get in that fight."

"Damn it." Shepard turned to Warpath, "Can't we get this going faster?"

"Sorry Commander. We've only got so many bots and these things aren't exactly light."

The fighting with the Reaper proved futile as one of the turian ships was hit. "_I've lost control! I can't pull up!_"

"_Hang tight bud, I've got ya!_" One of the Aerialbots caught up to the fighter, grabbing a hold of it as he tried to get him on a steady course. Even Air Raid's thruster's won't powerful enough to pull it out of the dive it was going in. "_Scrap! Eject!_" Air Raid managed to hold it steady long enough for the pilot to do so before he was forced to let go of the out of control ship, "_Watch out!_"

The fighter slammed into one of the Tomkahs, causing another to flip into the air and slam onto a fellow Tomkah. The crash nearly got Shepard, Garrus and Liara, as they pulled away from the fiery infernos. "_Shepard, what's happening?_"

"Wrex, get the female out of here! Go!" Warpath transformed as he continued to protect Wrex's Tomkah as the only other surviving Tomkah followed suit. The Autobots also suffered a few casualties, though the remaining survivors jumped over the now collapsed road to join Warpath.

Decibel was the first to recover as he searched for their flyers, "Silverbolt? Artimec? Does anyone copy?"

"_We have to abort, Commander! That Reaper's tearing us to pieces!_"

"Understood! Save your pilots—we'll find another way!"

"_This is Silverbolt, all Aerialbots accounted for. We're doubling back until we hear some news about a new plan._"

"Affirmative, we'll keep you in the know. Decibel out."

Garrus was checking for survivors, though after the smoke clear it was evident there were none. Though the explosion did uncover something else for them, "There's a tunnel over there! Could be a way off!"

* * *

With Legion's aid, and proper timing, Tali was able to convey Shockwave's message in the most negative of lights while still giving the geth a more appropriate glance. Now Xen had lost the public support of controlling the geth almost in one fell swoop, though the Admiral remained calm and hid her anger and frustration over her loss of research, for now. She knew her time would come again if she remained patient and diligent, keeping any research she might have planned out of the spotlight.

The planetary cannons now registered the entire quarian Flotilla as friendly, allowing safe passage for every ship to land on the planet that gave them breath. The feel of the wind against their face, the smells, no quarian could contain themselves within their suits now that they had their feet on the soil of Rannoch, the homeworld thought lost to them for centuries. And not a single drop of blood was shed to obtain it. Geth platforms were arriving at the landing zones, unarmed, there to provide aid however possible as they guided them through the world they had not seen for so long.

Vibes watch the quarians as they explored this world that was almost alien to them, yet familiar at the same time. Vibes started wondering if this is how it be for the Autobots when they too could finally return to Cybertron.

"Vibes, do you wish to accompany us?"

She looked down to see Tali and Legion as they were about to embark on exploring the planet with the rest of the crew. "It's alright. This isn't my world. But that doesn't mean I'm not happy for you, both of you."

Without needing an excuse, Perceptor was already off working to give all geth sentiency. Now he was just debating on the how. "Let me see, upgrading the code of every platform would take too long, inducing the code to replicate exponentially could have ill-advised effects on the geth themselves…Maybe I can introduce a universal upgrade key for the geth codes to use as they see fit to promote individual personalities, or work on their source code so they could share the upgrade and being the process that way…"

* * *

Doctor Fujiyama lost all contact from his drones, assuming them to have been lost on the Decepticon warship, he continued to refine the remaining drones for service in hopes that the Illusive Man doesn't see fit that he needs 'integration'.

Before they could begin with the finalizations of the latest five units, a sudden energy spike appeared just outside of the defense array. A massive green vortex emerged as Reapers and Decepticon warships emerged through it. Security scrambled to activate the station's defenses, but they were soon swarmed by Reaper fighters and Insecticons. "Contact the Illusive Man for reinforcements!"

"We can't communication is gone."

"Then work around their jamming!"

"I'm sorry sir, but they aren't jamming us. The Insecticons have eaten our communications array. We're completely cut off."

* * *

"_Commander Slipstream, conditions are green._"

Slipstream jumped as she transformed into her sleek jet form. "Seekers, we are out the gate in three!" The others also transformed as Astrotrain and Octane were filled with their passengers and waiting. "Three!"

All of the seekers flew out first, shooting the remaining defenses on the station and chasing after any fighters they launched. Slipstream herself even flew escort for Astrotrain and Octane for a while until she broke off to get rid of a Cerberus fighter. Astrotrain made it to one of their hangars, blasting the area for the troops before deploying them. Octane on the other hand wasn't as fortunate. Cerberus attempted to lock the hangar down but the Decepticon managed to squeeze himself in, clipping one of his wings in the process but all those inside were still functioning. "_Fragging humans!_"

"_You alright, Octane?_"

"_Yeah, but I won't be flying anytime soon._"

With the soldiers deployed, Octane and Astrotrain just had to hold the hangars until they returned. Laserbeak already left his group, killing the humans in the main server room as he started to take down security and downloading all files of interest.

* * *

While Ravage continued to assist the raloi and yahg, the other Recordicons were already pushing ahead. Cerberus forces stood little chance against the Decepticons as they continued through them. Cerberus finally started deploying Atlas mechs in an effort to stop them. Rumble's pile drivers pounded the ground once, "First we crack the shells…"

"Then we eviscerate the nuts inside!" Frenzy's hands became electrical wands.

The duo tried to strike the first Atlas, but it managed to bat the two away before they could do any damage. "Say, Beastbox, I think these lug nuts need a lesson in pain!"

"Couldn'ta said it betta."

Squawktalk fell to the ground, changing into a pair of legs as Beastbox jumped onto him, changing to a torso. "Yeah, Squawkbox gonna show you how to get things done!" Using his powerful arms for defense against the barrage of slugs, he closed the distance with the first mech, ripping off the arm. "No defense up close without this."

Rumble jumped onto the Atlas now, knocking it over, his pile drivers pounding away to get to the human inside.

* * *

With the distraction underway, Nightbird and her 'awakened' sisters were tasked with retrieving and 'awakening' their dormant sisters, attempt to capture Doctor Fujiyama alive, if possible, and leave before the station was destroyed. They watched as the staff frantically tried to save their research, but Doctor Fujiyama was attempting to activate the others as their last line of defense.

Before Fujiyama could finish, Nightbird herself jumped out of the shadows and threw a throwing star at the chest of her dormant sisters. Each star was laced with Dark Energon, and she didn't penetrate too deep into their chassis. The Dark Energon quickly got to work, spreading throughout their systems and awakening them just as it did Nightbird. "Welcome to the waken world, my sisters."

The four of them pulled the stars out of their chests and bowed to Nightbird, "And we thank you for freeing us from our enslavement, sister."

Fujiyama tried to retreat, but Nightbird already had her other sisters, Nightshade and Darkstar, killed security forces and grabbed Fujiyama before he could escape, "Where do you think you're going, 'father'?"

"Yes, our master, Megatron, would like to pick your brain after he saw our frames incorporated Cybertronian technology." Darkstar placed Fujiyama into a containment unit for transportation back to the _Nemesis_ as Decepticon forces continued to ravage the station.

* * *

Traveling though the ruins of the ancient korgan city, Shepard turned to Decibel, "So, any idea on how the Insecticons will react to Kalros?"

"It is possible the Insecticons have already made contact and forged an alliance."

"_Wait? The Insecticons made a deal with a bunch of worms?_"

"Unfortunately Warpath, that may very well be the case. At the turian bomb site, the Insecticon Hardshell somehow managed to summon forth juvenile thresher maws to aid in bringing the bomb down for the Insecticon horde to consume. It is probably that the Insecticons are controlling a small population of thresher maws to aid them. Without more information or recon no conclusive answer can truly be given."

Garrus could only shutter, after seeing the ancient mural of Kalros, "As long it's only the little ones they're controlling. If that got Kalros to work for them…I don't even want to think about it."

Decibel turned back to the mural, "Compound the fact that these ancient cities were likely abandoned after their nuclear wars, the level of decay, and the layers I can detect, Kalros has more than likely grown since the creation of the mural."

"Not helping."

* * *

Nightbird and her sister quickly returned to the _Nemesis_, with the captured doctor in tow. A special room was pressurized and given an adequate atmosphere, for an organic, as the Decepticons got their 'patient' ready. A device that looked like a compound microscope was pulled over as it started to examine the retrained Doctor Fujiyama. Once finished the device transformed into a multi-legged bot slightly larger than Fujiyama, as several different lenses continued to shift in front of his red optics, "Cranial/body ratio ist .8934% larger zen ze average human."

A red, super clean, Decepticon walked into the light, "So should we begin with the dissection," his right hand turned into a massive buzz saw, "or do we go with the more subtle approach?"

"Please, I…I'll give you anything you want! Just name it!"

A black one with a secondary pair of miniature arms appeared. His smaller limbs were checking on Fujiyama's restrains, "Oh don't worry, willing or not, we will get what we want from you. Unfortunately even if you survive the procedure, you will not survive the atmospheric decompression."

"So gentlebots, I believe we've talked with the specimen long enough. What say we get down to the nuts and bolts shall we?"

"I didn't think you'd be so eager, Knock Out. Normally you're so concerned about your finish and paint job."

The buzz saw started spinning now, "I've done my research. Human blood is fairly easy to remove. And I have the luxury that my fine red finish will probably hide any blood that'll spray."

Fujiyama's screams echoed within the _Nemesis_, and the Nightbird sisters all watched Fujiyama's dissection. Every grueling milli-cycle of the procedure, they burned into their memory banks for posterity.

* * *

Reaching the surface, Shepard and company managed to rendezvous with Wrex and Warpath. Kalros nabbed Thurak's Tomkah, just missing one of the Autobots as the group continued onward toward the Shroud. Once at the site, the Autobots kept low as the organics got out.

"We don't have a plan for this."

"I know we've beaten the odds before…" The Reaper looked super imposed as it stood guard of the tower, "But getting to that tower…I don't know."

Wrex wouldn't hear it, even from his friends, "We're curing the genophage no matter what it takes! Everything my people will ever be depends on it."

"Then I hope this idea you were talking about is a good one."

Wrex looked to Shepard before proudly stating, "It was hers actually."

"Kalros. We summon her to the Reaper."

Shepard was uncertain, "Would that even work?"

Mordin was looking off at something, an entrance, "Already discussed strategy. Just need to distract Reaper, draw it from tower while cure synthesized, released."

Decibel scanned the area, uncertain of the plan. "What makes you so certain Kalros will come, let alone fight?"

"Legends say she is the mother from which all other thresher maws spawn. This is as much her home as ours."

Wrex smiled, "If Tuchanka has a temper, Kalros is it. Nobody's ever faced her and survived."

Warpath laughed, "You hear that, flybots? We might not even need ya for this part!"

"_You hurtin's Warpath. You know a good airstrike clears a lot of situations._"

Shepard however wasn't as confident as the boastful Autobot, "I've taken some risks in my time, but this seems crazy."

"And going head-to-head with Sovereign didn't? This is the only way to get to that tower and release the cure. There's no other choice."

Guzzle, one of Warpath's troops, was a bit worried now, "Not to put a wrench in the plans or anything, but how are we summon her? We're not gonna be bait or nothing, right?"

Eve shook her head, assuring the larger Autobots, "No. The tower was built in an arena devoted to Kalros' glory. The salarians thought she would scare away intruders."

"Appears to have worked," referring to how the facility has been relatively untouched except for time.

"There are two maw hammers there, the largest in existence. If you can activate them, Kalros will come. That should distract the Reaper."

Warpath pulled out his rifle, "And until then we play decoy for ya."

Mordin turned after finishing his own scans, "Yes. And laboratory nearby. Will finish synthesizing cure."

Decibel looked to find the hammers. "In summoning Kalros we could inadvertently summon the Insecticons alongside her."

Wrex didn't care, "A risk we need to be willing to take."

Warpath grunted, "As long as the Cons munch on the Reaper more than the tower, the better I say."

As concerned as Shepard was about the Insecticons, he was willing to go with the plan. "Let's make sure we all get out of here alive. We're going to have on hell of a story to tell."

"Wait—" Wrex stopped him, "I want you to know that no matter what happens…You've been a champion to the krogan people, a friend of Clan Urdnot…and a brother to me. To every krogan born after this day, the name 'Shepard' will mean 'hero'!" the two shook hands, brothers in arms, "Now let's show them why!" Garrus had his sniper rifle ready as a group of Ravagers appeared. "Go! We've got this!" looking up to Warpath as the two nodded to the other. Wrex then rushed at the Ravagers first, "I AM URDNOT WREX," smacking the first with his shoulder, blasting the second with his shotgun and the third with his fist, "AND THIS IS MY PLANET!" Warpath and the other Autobots provided extra support to Wrex, stomping on a few of them or outright blasting them to dust.

"See you on the other side."

Mordin and Eve walked off to the facility, "Stay alive, Shepard. Will have cure ready."

* * *

**A/N:** You have to feel a bit sorry for Doctor Fujiyama, though in one continuity he created an army of Nightbirds and got Wheelie and Daniel killed cleaning that mess, so I say that evens out.


	12. Chapter 12

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

* * *

Shockwave was overseeing the upgrading of organics volunteers, and others taken in by his forces. Using the vorcha's regenerative ability, survival among the subjects far exceeded Shockwave's initial projections without this genetic inclusion. Now with turians, asari, salarians, and humans, the versatility and durability of these uplifted ones were truly aspiring as even the vorcha were given these new genetic adventitious traits provided by the other races.

Starscream didn't see the progress to be so 'uplifting' however, "A mere three hundred thousand of these flesh creatures and we lose over a hundred Reapers to Megatron and the Autobots. I still don't see how this equates. I thought you were supposed to be all about logic? That is of course unless you decided that logic is no longer the only way of thinking?"

Shockwave's avatar stopped, turning to the pessimist, "Logic is the only thing that drives me. It is the only thing that should drive anything. And everything is proceeding as expected. Reaper forces and my own are still in a joint effort of eliminating the Autobots and delaying Megatron's forces, though both are still secondary objectives. However, you are correct. Foot soldiers cannot replace the value of a strong fleet. So for now, our efforts will remain on continuing with our primary plans, respectfully."

"Primary plans? You mean your upgrades to the organics? And the Reapers…whatever they do."

"Yes and no. The other Reapers will continue their efforts of constructing a new Sovereign-class Reaper, as the organics have dubbed it, from the extracted essence of humans. This project you see before you is simply a cover for my true plans."

Starscream forced his way into Shockwave's path, "And what, pray tell, is that?"

The avatar stopped only because Starscream stood in his path. Though he walked around and continued to the next group for processing, "Plans I instigated before our integration. So far none have succeeded, though my findings suggest that my wait will not be much longer. And it is through organics that these plans can finally be realized."

* * *

Grimlock and his Lightning Strike Coalition were able to destroy another Reaper Destroyer, standing victorious over it. But before any kind of celebration or congrats could be exchanged, more Reapers started to break through the cloud cover. "Not sound like coward, but me Swoop think we need new plan."

Roadbuster just couldn't see them fighting that many Reapers at once. "I wouldn't think anything less of us if we temporarily left this world."

Grimlock grabbed the hilt of his sword, angered that the only way to survive was to flee. Snarl grabbed his hand, "Grimlock. Time we go."

"Lightning Strike, retreat to ship." Grimlock looked back one last time, contacting Prime, "Optimus, we leaving now."

"_The Ark will provide you cover fire until you return to your ship._"

"Just like Cybertron…always retreating…never capturing…"

* * *

It took nearly thirty experiments, and more than twice as many explosions, but Wheeljack finally got a stable Energon formula working. Now he had to do the real testing, to see if it was consumable for Autobots.

"Is it safe?"

"Is it safe, you say?" Wheeljack chuckled at Anderson's question, though he paused for a moment to check his notes again, "Yeah its safe! But uh…" waving his hand back to the humans, "I think you should observe from right there."

Cliffjumper picked up the Energon cube, "Only one way to be certain. Bottom's up!" Before Hot Rod or Brawn could stop him, Cliff quickly guzzled down the Energon.

The humans back away again, uncertain what was about to happen to the Autobot, if anything. Wheeljack took a slight step toward him, activating an omni-tool fitted by Perceptor. "How do ya feel?"

Cliffjumper started rotating his arms, "I feel reenergized as usual. Nothing too bad."

Wheeljack's scans also confirmed Cliffjumper's initial assessments. "All readings appear normal. But I wanna run more tests before we start mass producing this stuff. We wouldn't want any backlash in the middle of combat."

* * *

Wrex managed to get the two maw hammers ready, now all Shepard had to do was activate them. Unfortunately Warpath and his men weren't in position yet before the Reaper tried to gun down Shepard's team, dropping them to a lower level.

Forced to run across a rather open area, though at least they had cover to run to in between blasts. They were now near the base of the Reaper and with no cover left, they were in a rather tight spot.

"_YAHOOO!_" a missile careened overhead, smashing into the Reaper.

The Aerialbots and the turians fighters were back as Warpath and the other Autobots started shelling it from multiple angles. "_Commander, this is Artimec wing. We'll try to give that Reaper something else to shoot at!_"

"I knew they wouldn't give up."

"Goddess be with them."

"_Aerialbots, I think we need superior strength now!_"

Silverbolt and four other Aerialbots were now flying in formation as the others continued to draw the Reaper's attention. Like the Constructicons and the Protectobots, the five of them were combining into a new form. "_Superion ready._" The new massive Autobot was on top of the Reaper as he started pounding and blasting at it.

As Shepard's team moved underneath they weren't completely unnoticed. The Reaper started to deploy Brutes to stop them. Decibel moved up, "Commander, we've got this. Activate the hammers!" Decibel split into Noise and Graphy once more as the two held the Brutes at bay.

Now the real work, avoiding the Reaper's legs as they stomped the area. There were a few narrow misses but Shepard reached the first hammer and activated it, "Mordin we hit the first hammer! How's it coming?"

"_Almost have cure! Eve's vital sign's dropping! Trying to compensate!_"

Graphy was playing a more defensive role, occupying the attention of the Brutes while staying just out of range of their claws while Noise bit their necks, severing the heads. But no matter how many Brutes they were able to dispose of the Reaper continued to send more out against them.

During all of the madness of trying to give Shepard time to get to the other hammer controls, Graphy noticed a unusual shift in the sands below their feet. One of the Brutes was about to crush Noise while he was distracted with tearing the head off another when suddenly a sinkhole appeared beneath it. The Brute managed to grab hold of the ground before falling in, though something was tugging at its legs until the ground it was holding gave way and forcing the Brute down. Noise jumped away from the hole and started to roar at it.

Graphy came back as the two combined, ignoring the Brute behind them as it too was swallowed up by another sinkhole. From the two sinkholes a swarm of Insecticons burst through, as Hardshell landed in front of Decibel. "Autobot…why summon us? I thought I told you to leave this world?"

"We are here to cure the krogan genopahge. We will achieve this mission."

Hardshell looked up to the Reaper before them, then looked to the maw hammers. "You seek to summon the Mother?"

"Mother?"

Decibel looked to the rest of the swarm as they were converging on the ever appearing Brutes, ignoring Shepard, Garrus and Liara, for now. One Insecticon rammed its horn through a Brute's stomach as others ripped its arms off. One Brute managed to use its claw arm to tear into an Insecticon, ripping off its wings before it relentlessly pounded away.

"Yes. She calls to us. She is us. She tells us we are one."

Decibel was uncertain, but he deduced the possibility that Kalros, and the 'Mother' Hardshell refers to are one in the same. "Yes. We seek her aid in destroying the Reaper."

"Then we shall assist. And once the Reaper has been dealt with, you and your Autobot filth are to leave our planet."

Decibel nodded, uncertain of this rather unholy deal. Shepard heard some of it, though he wasn't going to complain as long as they could get the Reaper out of their way. With the second hammer now active, he turned to the others, "Go! Get back to the truck! I'll take care of the cure!" Garrus and Liara did, though Decibel remained, staying with Shepard.

With the two hammers now activated turian and Autobot forces quickly retreated, as the Insecticon swarm continued to nip at the Reaper. Completely ignoring the swarm flying around it, the Reaper turned its full attention to the coming thresher maw as it burrowed underneath just as the Reaper fried. The Insecticon swarm suddenly disbursed as Kalros rose up and latched onto the Reaper

With the way Kalros was attached, the Reaper couldn't use its weapon against it. So it did the only thing it could do, the Reaper used the Shroud to cause pain to Kalros, forcing her to let go. Kalros was more enduring than that, quickly retreating underground before the Reaper could get a beat on her.

The Reaper then tried readjusting itself to prepare for Kalros' inevitable return. But the Insecticons ran interference, starting to bit and rip at its main batter when Kalros appeared, displaying her awesome might, speed, and size, she latched onto the Reaper once more and this time slammed it hard into the sand. On its side now, Kalros started to coil around the Reaper like a snake, squeezing it and forcing its only weapon to look up into the sky helpless as she dragged it underground with the Insecticon swarm right behind her.

With the sight of the Insecticons and the Reapers gone, Shepard and Decibel quickly ran to the lab. Unfortunately the Reaper's use of the Shroud had caused structural integrity to give out. The Shroud had mere minutes left before it would collapse. Mordin though was too busy at work, "Mordin! Is the cure ready?"

"Yes. Loaded for dispersal in two minutes. Procedure traumatic for Eve, but not lethal. Maelon's research invaluable."

"She's okay?"

"Headed to safety now. Her survival fortunate. Will stabilize new government should Wrex get any ideas. Good match, promising future for krogan."

"Damn!" a piece of the Shroud landing a bit too close for comfort.

"Control room at top of Shroud tower. Must take elevator up."

"You're going up there?"

"Yes. Manual access required. Have to counteract STG sabotage. Ensure cure dispersed properly."

"Mordin, this whole thing is coming apart. There's got to be another way!"

"Remote bypass impossible. STG countermeasures in place. No time to adjust cure for temperature variance." Mordin looked up to the Shroud, knowing what he had to do, "No. no other option. Not coming back. Suggest you get clear. Explosions likely to be problematic."

"Mordin, no!"

Mordin lowered his head slightly, pausing inside the elevator before looking back, "Shepard, please. Need to do this. My project. My work. My cure. My responsibility. Would have liked to run tests on seashells."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. Had to be me." Activating the elevator, "Someone else might've gotten it wrong."

* * *

Once at the top, the control room was ablaze as the computer continuously repeated, "Warning: Temperature malfunction detected."

Mordin quickly got to work adjusting the setting so the cure would indeed work for every krogan, freeing them of the gene alteration his people created. As he continued to work, he started to hum a song, "I've studied species turian, asari, and batarian…"

"Temperature now within acceptable range. Dispersal commencing."

Mordin smiled as he watched the cure spread across the entire planet's atmosphere. Feeling fulfilled, Mordin accepted his demise, as he continued his little song, "My xenoscience studies range from urban to agrarian. I am…" Air Raid landed on the Shroud, putting his fist through the window and grabbing Mordin, pulling him out before the explosion occurred within the control room.

"Decibel asked me to get you before this place went up like a grenade. Looks like I made it just in time."

* * *

The Illusive Man was getting suspicious about the unusual silence from Project Nightbird. Suddenly the QEC to the station was online. "Doctor Fujiyama, you're late on those…" Instead the image was that of a Cybertronian. "Megatron."

"_The coveted leader of Cerberus, the Illusive Man._"

"What brings this rather unusual circumstance of our meeting?"

"_Spare me your theatrics. I believe you know well enough why I'm here and why your station has not transmitted. Your attempted assassination will not go unchallenged. We will hunt down and destroy every facility you have. This station was merely our first stop. Next I believe we'll be visiting Sanctuary for a bit._"

"I have no idea what you're speaking of Megatron. I would never try to eliminate you," keeping his calm in the face of the Decepticon leader.

"_You don't? I believe this will jog your memory banks._"

"_Have their target be Megatron. Separate the head from a snake and the rest will follow suit._"

One of the Nighbird drones walked into view, the Decepticon logo branded onto its chest as it had something in hand. "_We extracted your orders from the station's computers. And my little Nightbird here told me just the same,_" Megatron rubbing his fingers against the drone's face.

Nightbird then displayed what it was that was in hand, Doctor Fujiyama's severed head. Part of his spine was still dangling on as blood was seen dripping from it. One of his eyes was missing as incisions on his forehead indicated some type of surgical procedure. "_Unfortunately for 'father', he won't be around to see you die. As a consolation, his 'daughters' and skull will._"

The Illusive Man was intrigued to see the drone attain full sentiency under the Decepticons, even with the programmed shackles. "I can assure you, Megatron, those were not my orders. I have a rouge faction I am currently trying to maintain, however the situation…"

"_The situation has only become worse. I could admire organics aspiring to higher stature than what they were ever meant to attain, but the use of Cybertronian technology is going too far. You have made a grave enemy of the Decepticons, and of me. A mistake you will soon regret making._"

* * *

With his meeting with the Illusive Man concluded, Shockwave approached him. "Shockwave, how goes your pet project?"

"Exceedingly well. Initial tests have proved the viability of integrating the ancient fossilized cyber nucleic acid samples recovered by Jhiaxus. The five subjects who were selected for CNA splicing are remarkably receptive to the alterations." The five Decepticons presented themselves on the bridge, "I present to you my liege, the Predacons."

Megatron smirked, looking at the upgraded warriors, each just as fierce as the next, "Shockwave, it does my spark good to see you once again tampering with creation."

With the apparent end of the meeting, Nightbird intruded, "Milord, about finding us altforms…"

Megatron gentle caressed Nightbird, "Fear not. Soundwave is running though a number of vehicles as we speak. Once he finds something that is appropriate for your body's archetype you and your sisters will get their new forms."

Nightbird graciously bowed, "Thank you, Master." She then left, having intentions of removing the remaining flesh from Fujiyama's head and putting the skull on her belt, or another part of her body where it would not be crushed by her, soon to be, transformable body.

With Nightbird gone, Megatron looked out to the remains of the station as scavenging teams were going through the wreckage for anything of value before sending the Insecticons out to consume it. "Shockwave? Did you do the other projections that I requested?"

Shockwave inputted the data extracted by Laserbeak. "Cerberus had every intention of giving the Nightbirds transformation capabilities. They even installed T-Cogs without any knowledge of how it functioned. Data suggests that they were focused on getting them operational in all other matters. Transformation was a secondary objective. One that would never be without Energon. After you introduced Dark Energon to them, their T-Cogs have begun functioning at nominal capacity."

"Good. I want Soundwave to hurry and find appropriate forms for Nightbird and her sisters."

* * *

Dropshot looked out to another Reaper that was stomping across Menae. "Yo, Bulk, remember that thing we pulled back at Tyger Pax?"

"Do I? We used the Con's beacon against them and pinned them in a hail of friendly fire."

Dropshot nodded, "I'm thinkin' we do the same thing here."

"Yea…wait? What?"

"Hear me out. We use one of the Reaper creatures, a Brute or whatever the turians call the big ones with claws. We use it and lure one of the Reapers to a location we predetermine. We launch an attack and get it firing at us."

"I was with you up until the firing at us part."

"Let me finish. We're drawing its fire so that it actually blasts a bunch of their own forces. Tyger Pax all over again."

Bulkhead liked it, though he wasn't sure about one thing, "So how are we going to out run that thing."

"We're not." Dropshot turned to Sunstreaker and Sideswipe as the two brothers did another run to keep the Reapers busy, "They are."

* * *

"_Are you sure you don't want us with you sir? I can come back right now and…_"

"I believe you're overreacting Vibes. I should be finished in a moment. Once the upgrades have been implemented the geth will be fully sentient and every platform an individual like Legion. Rather ironic given the meaning behind the name and…"

"_I'm still getting this bad feeling in my spark. I would feel better knowing you were on your way back to New Iacon or the Citadel._"

"Don't worry. Once I'm finished here I'll go to the Citadel. From there I should be able to aid in the war against the Reapers. Perceptor out." Perceptor finished his last code change before deactivating his omni-tool. "That should do it. Now to get this code to the geth and-AAAHHHHH!"

Perceptor fell to the ground, systems overloaded. "And return the geth to their subservient roles to the quarians." Xen and her like-minded associates had followed Perceptor to the geth mainframe. The geth code was at her fingertips now, and any alterations made here would be more than a simple hack. Though as much as she wished she could examine Perceptor's framework thoroughly they only had enough time to alter the geth code. Xen and her people quickly got to work to reprogram the geth permanently.

* * *

**A/N:** Shockwave has something up his robotic sleeves, but what not even Reaper Starscream knows. Cerberus has just fallen into the critically endangered species list.


	13. Chapter 13

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

* * *

Even with Perceptor's urging, Vibes still had some doubts. It only clinched when Perceptor's comm link activated suddenly and transmitted something. "_…sub…roles…quari…_" it was full of static and hard to hear, but Vibes could at least tell it was definitely Khelish.

Vibes finally listened to her spark and turned the ship around. "Sorry Tali, but we're going back to Rannoch. Legion, do you think you can confirm if Perceptor gave any alerts about his progress or has uploaded the upgrade yet?"

Legion's faceplates flapped, "Negative on both. However, I am detecting activity within the server."

"Perceptor?"

"Unknown. The unidentified user is going to great lengths to keep their presence hidden from myself and the others."

Vibes really didn't like this now, knowing how Perceptor was about procedures. "Shut down the server. Prevent all geth from getting any updates or changes from it for now. Not until we get there and confirm Perceptor's status."

* * *

"Admiral, the geth aren't accepting the codes. In fact, they're utterly disregarding any command functions and processes changes we attempt to upload."

"Damn it. It seems our Cybertronian friend here may have given them some semblance of intellect. But we are smarter." Xen slowly walked over to Perceptor's head, "It would seem we do get to take a closer look into what makes you tick." Xen turned back to her workers, "Well? What are you waiting for? Hurry and get the tools so we can open it up and find how the geth are resisting."

One of the quarians slowly approached Xen, "A…Admiral. Perhaps we should stop now. This thing isn't a geth. Its intellect is that of a sentient. I think we're about to overst—"

Xen pulled a pistol to his mask and fired, killing him before he could finish complaining. "Now, does anyone else have any objections?" The other ran off to grab the supplies, "As I thought." Xen started to slowly caress Perceptor's face, tantalized by what she will learn from the Cybertronian, both anatomically and technologically.

* * *

Autobot forces on Tuchanka were transferred to aid the krogan as they headed off to Palaven. They were also leaving as per the deal brokered with the Insecticons for their cooperation in dealing with the Reaper. Wrex and Eve were quickly working to organize the krogan and mobilize them as transports arrived to ferry them off to the front lines. Mordin wasn't expecting to have lived through the events, though now that he was still alive he planned to assist in the Crucible. And once the Reapers were eliminated, Mordin wanted to return to Tuchanka and ensure the health of the newest generation of krogan. Mordin has even set up preparations for assistance from his friend Padok Wiks with ensuring the health of the krogan children.

However not everyone was as pleased about the recent release of the genophage cure. The Salarian Dalatrass has denied salarian support in the construction of the Crucible, feeling the humans have doomed the galaxy to a new Krogan Rebellions later down the road. Fortunately for the galaxy, STG forces weren't so blind to the blatant truth, the Reapers will not stop until every space fairing race has been destroyed or worse…

Shepard was returning to the Citadel at the request of Councilor Valern. He had recently noticed large credit movement from Councilor Udina and has requested Shepard to assist in assessing the situation. However something was wrong, "Alliance control, this is _SSV Normandy_, are we cleared to descend?" Shepard was standing next to Joker as they still got no response. "Alliance control this is _Normandy_, we're headed to Bay 1-4, Zakera Ward. Are we cleared to descend?" Suddenly the comm channel was turned off. "What the hell's going on down there? Even if there were a station malfunction, they'd have backups online. I've got a bad feeling here. Checking emergency channels." It didn't take long before Joker found someone, "Hey! Yeah, this is Joker. Uh-huh. Yeah, no kidding. Commander, there's a communication from Thane. He says it's important. Think you'll want to hear this."

"Put him through."

Joker did, patching the comm into the cockpit's speakers, "_Shepard. The Citadel is under attack. Cerberus troops are everywhere and they're in control of the docks._"

Shepard lend on Joker's chair, "Are you safe?"

"_No. I had to evade their commandos at the hospital. I'm in a Presidium storefront._"

"Did Ashley make it out?"

"_We got separated. She said she had to protect the Council. I'm going to C-Sec headquarters._"

"Why C-Sec headquarters?"

"_It has been compromised and C-Sec's response depends on it. As long as Cerberus is holding the headquarters, they have the station._"

Shepard pushed off, walking away, "All right, Joker—get us away from the docks and close to C-Sec HQ. we'll deploy in the shuttle."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

* * *

Shepard had Garrus, Decibel and James with him as the four of them were off to try and retake C-Sec HQ. Arriving at the entrance they saw Cerberus putting up a very hardy defense as C-Sec attempted to retake the HQ. What wasn't expected however was seeing a mechanical black panther or bird assaulting Cerberus forces.

Decible also seemed rather confused. "Decepticons? Why have they returned to the Citadel?"

Garrus got his rifle out, "I don't know, but if they're taking out Cerberus, I'll take the extra firepower."

Decibel took point, "I will draw Cerberus' fire and attempt to uncover why Decepticon forces are here." Decibel split into Noise and Graphy as the two divided and assaulted Cerberus positions. Unlike the Decepticons, Noise and Graphy weren't delivering any lethal blows, leaving that up to Shepard's team and the Cons.

The bird's lasers easily cut through Cerberus armor as the panther pounced and slashed its way through their numbers. Things only became easier for them when Shepard, James and Garrus opened fire on the first targets they could.

It wasn't long before Cerberus forces defending the area were decimated by the group. Once clear, Graphy and Noise fused together as Decibel and the two Decepticons spoke. As expected from the two animal-like Decepticons, they only spoke through growls and squawks. What wasn't expected was when Deicbel started to only speak through a strange beeping and dial tones though it would seem the two Decepticons could understand him perfectly.

While the Cybertronians talked shop, Shepard and team rushed to the sole surviving C-Sec agent, "Bailey! How bad are you hurt?"

He was holding his side and bleeding, as he got himself up, "I'm alright—looks worse than it is. About time some cavalry got here other than Cons."

Garrus knew C-Sec protocol, quick to get an assessment, "How bad's the situation? Do you know if the Councilors are alive?"

"They split up. I'll know more if I can access a terminal inside."

"Allow me to save us some time." Decibel walked over with the two Decepticons at his side. "Ravage and Laserbeak have informed me of the situation. The Decepticons have declared a new campaign against Cerberus, and through reliable resources have uncovered a plot to occupy the Citadel."

"The Citadel? Why do they want the Citadel?"

The panther growled angrily as Decibel translated, "Ravage states that Cerberus believes the Citadel is key for something. The intel unfortunately stops there. Decepticon strike teams, led by Rumble, Frenzy, Squawkbox, Ratbat and Buzzsaw have already infiltrated the Wards and have begun terminating Cerberus occupants. Ravage and Laserbeak had intended to capture C-Sec HQ to better coordinate Decepticon forces and control the Citadel instead." Ravage snarled at Decibel, "Those were your intentions, do not try to deny it, Decepticon." Ravage looked ready to attack Decibel, that was until Laserbeak flew over and landed on his head as he squawked, "The Decepticons are willing to extend a temporary truce in order to remove Cerberus. Personal recommendations are against the idea, however with Cerberus' tactical advantage they may prove useful."

Shepard was hesitant to even go there, but with the number and firepower he has seen them normally packing he didn't want to be fighting on two fronts. "Fine. But if they do anything other than remove Cerberus tell them they've got a pair of shots waiting for them."

"Translations from them are necessary, however Ravage and Laserbeak are fully capable of comprehending anything you tell them directly."

James looked to Decibel with curiosity, "Then what was all of that beeping for?"

"The language of our kind, the Minicons."

* * *

It seemed Wheeljack's augmented Energon was indeed working. Cliffjumper was completely invisible to the Reapers while he remained in vehicle form, however when he transforms to his robot form he becomes a screaming target on everyone's scanners in a hundred meter radius. This would work best for strike teams who needed the element of surprise and to disappear in a hurry, but for scouts like Bumblebee, this would only hinder their ability to scout. Seeing this problem, Hot Rod allowed the production of this altered Energon, but only for those who would end up in heavy combat with little capabilities to disappear. Anderson made excellent use of this new guerrilla warfare capability, striking out at Reaper Processors and forces before they ever having the chance to retaliate.

Mount St. Hilary continued to serve as a base of operations for Anderson and the Autobots, though the location was bound to be discovered soon enough. "Move it. The civilians and injured leave with the Autobot convey. Don't leave a single piece of equipment that could be used."

Hot Rod was also coordinating the Autobots, "Bumblebee and I will help Wheeljack with his experiments while Brawn continues to remain at Anderson's side. Guerrilla bots under Cliffjumper's commander are watching the main human refugees convey. Remember, don't transform unless absolutely necessary or the Reapers have you targeted."

Cliffjumper and the others rolled out with the civilians while the other Autobots helped gather Alliance equipment for transport. Anderson walked up to Hot Rod, using one of the walkways created to be about his head level, "You're doing an excellent job leading your people."

"Yeah, but sometimes I can't help but feel that Optimus chose the wrong bot to lead here. If Ultra Magnus was he, he'd be running us hard to fight against the Reapers."

Anderson couldn't help but see himself and a bit of Shepard in the bots, "Listen Hot Rod, we can't just dwell on 'what if's or 'should have's, in the end all we can really depend on is our training and gut instincts, or whatever you call intuition."

"My intuition and training, huh?" Hot Rod then looked to the Autobots hard at work. There was a smile that finally came to his face, "You know, I've been meaning to say this for a while. Right now, the way Earth looks like, kinda reminds me of Cybertron during the height of the civil war."

"Cybertron's this bad off?"

"Probably worse now since the planet's core shut down to reboot. I guess battling Cons for so long might have gotten us all prepared for long dragged out engagements. Can't believe I'm thanking the Cons for anything."

"Sometimes our enemies can teach us the most valuable of lessons, weather we realize it or not." Hot Rod nodded as he walked off to help with move the gear.

* * *

Squawkbox ripped the arms off an Atlas as one of the yahg knocked it down and crushed the pilot. "An organic after my own spark." A sniper tried to damage Squawkbox, only to piss him off. The Decepticon quickly retaliated by crushing the sniper with his fist. "C'mon! Who else thinks they can rumble with Squawkbox?" Another sniper fired off, though it was one of the raloi and he took the head of a Cerberus female with a sword who managed to sneak up behind the distracted Con.

* * *

With the aid of Ravage and Laserbeak, Shepard and team managed to reach the Executor's office fairly quickly, though the two Decepticons disappeared on them, Shepard continued into the Executor's office. Decibel opened the door and was the first one in as James watched the stairs.

Once inside they only found dead bodies. "Bailey, looks like they got the executor and two salarian bodyguards."

"_Damn. All right, keep searching. If you don't see the councilor's body, don't count him out yet._"

Decibel turned to the window, "Commander, auditory sensors detect multiple anomalies in the previous room."

Garrus and Shepard looked down as one of the chairs was nudged aside. The salarian councilor had used a tactical cloak to keep hidden until then. "Found him. He looks unharmed."

"_Get him somewhere safe!_"

Garrus and James moved down the stairs to help secure the councilor however Decibel continued to act as look out. "Commander. Unidentified human male detected."

Shepard turned back just in time to see him perched on the support beam. Decibel jumped out of the window, followed by Shepard as the unknown human jumped down and used the councilor as a shield, holding his arm up and ready to us some strange weapon integrated into his hand. Shepard had his pistol at the ready as Decibel flanked him. "Don't even think about it!"

Valern whispered to them, "Shepard. He's going to kill us all."

"That remains to be seen."

"I mean Udina." Valern looked back just enough to see Shepard and the Autobot, "He's staging a coup. He's got the other councilors to hand over to Cerberus."

James ran down with rifle at the ready as Garrus kept to the Executor's office with his sniper rifle, "Four on one, pal. It's over."

"No. now it's fun." The assassin was about to tempt fate and execute the councilor just the same. That was until he noticed someone at his flank. The assassin quickly dropped to avoid the shot meant for his head. Decibel herded the councilor behind him as Thane continued to fight in hand to hand combat until Thane was thrown over his shoulder and the assassin turned invisible.

Decibel shifted to the left, Fire Blasters ignited, "Auditory disturbance to our left." Decibel unleashed a torrent of flames against the desks forcing the assassin out of hiding. Just as Decibel forced the assassin out of hiding laser fire tried to take the assassin out. Ravage then jumped down cutting the assassin off from the others.

Ravage looked like he was challenging the assassin, and the Decepticon was about to get his wish. The assassin drew out a sword as Ravage started to prepare for the fight, claws ready to slice and fangs ready to sink into organic flesh.

Ravage made the first move, rushing the assassin before turning into a feint as Laserbeak flew in and snapped the blade before the assassin could attack. Ravage fired off one of his hip mounted missiles, forcing the assassin to go his way. The assassin however was by no means unarmed. The assassin started firing with his hand cannon to try and take down Laserbeak or Ravage. The two Decpticons were in complete sync as they avoided the assassin's attacks, even managing a few themselves.

This game of cat and mouse continued for some time between the three of them before Ravage decided on finishing this. Laserbeak made another strafing run against the assassin before Ravage used it to pounce onto him. Ravage bite down on the human's neck as he restrained his arms under the weight of his paws. Though Ravage managed to pin the assassin, he received damage in his underside from the assassin's hand blaster.

* * *

Back on Rannoch, Admiral Xen continued her attempt to open Perceptor's body, but so far their tools haven't been able to break through his Cybertronian metal. "Keep working, the secret to our permanent supremacy over the geth is just within our grasps. I will not let this opportunity escape me—us. I mean escape us."

As one of the quarians left the compound to grab new equipment to replace the broken one, she didn't return as quietly as the last time. "Sali, what's taking you so long for those parts?"

"I'm afraid she will no longer assist in your torture attempts." The Autobot Vibes walked in with Sali in her hand and a rifle in the other. "Now, stop this or else—"

"Or else what? You'll crush her?" Xen mockingly asked.

"Admiral, please!"

"Silence, Sali. I have studied you Autobots. Despite your great stature and power, you will never take the life of an organic such as us. Your attempt at a threat is rather amusing though." Xen then grabbed for one of the power drills and walked back over to Perceptor's body. "Originally I had wished to extract information from this one in a far more subtle way. But with your arrival, you've forced my hand," the other quarians knew Xen was lying through her teeth now, though the Autobot didn't seem to know that. "If you do decide on showing actual aggression toward us, it will be all of the evidence necessary for us to declare war against your kind. I doubt your species will be capable of retaliation like the Decepticons."

Vibes was gripping her rifle, unable to do anything as Xen had said. "I…I…can't just…"

"As I thought, useless as I believed. Now if you'll excuse me I have information to extract," Xen walked back over to Perceptor with a power drill at the ready.

Before Xen could break through Perceptor's eye something rushed through the area, knocking a few of the quarians over before grabbing Xen's neck. It was the geth, Legion. "Admiral Xen, though Vibes is unable to harm you, I may."

"Y—you see…this is why we must return the geth to their rightful place. If we give them intelligence they will fight back, just like this one!"

"No they won't!" Admiral Zorah now walked into the room. "Legion would never do that. Now everyone stand down!"

Xen wasn't as so willing to forgive and forget, "Admiral, this geth has my throat! You can't say this thing isn't a threat."

"The only threat here is you, Admiral Xen. A threat to the Autobots. A threat to the geth. A threat to the quarians. Your actions here have proven how instable you truly are." Legion's eye constricted as it gleamed into Xen's visor. "In order for true unity some elements must be eliminated. However, permanent damage has not been dealt to either Autobots or geth. I will defer to Admiral Zorah's decision."

* * *

**A/N:** I never really liked Xen, and I was tempted to just have Legion break her right there. Though thinking about it more, it would only lead to more problems between the geth and quarians.


	14. Chapter 14

Astrosecond~ .498 seconds, milli-cycle~1 sec, cycle~1 min, breem~ 8.3 minutes, mega-cycle~1 hour, meta-cycle~1\2 hours, solar cycle~1 day, day~ 20 hours, orbital cycle~ 1 month, gigacycle~ 1 year, deca-cycle~10 years, vorn~ 83 years, stellar cycle~400 year, mechanometer~ 1 meter, vun~ hectometer, hic~ 1 kilometer

* * *

Admiral Tali'Zorah, something she never believed she'd be called and yet here she was, an admiral of her people standing alongside a geth and an Autobot. "Admiral Xen, will you continue your attempts to reprogram the geth or harm our Autobot allies?"

"Allies? These Autobots won't remain once they find a way home! And the geth, don't make me laugh. We built them for remedial labor and military cannon fodder. They will never be our equals!"

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Admiral."

"Were you not like myself not long ago, Tali'Zorah? You despised the geth for what they did to our ancestors, what they did to your father." Xen could see she hit a sensitive spot, "You know, if it wasn't for Rael's research, I wouldn't have gotten the steps I needed for this."

Tali wanted to hit her, she wanted to pull her visor off and physically pound her for what she was saying, but Tali restrained herself, looking up to Vibes. "Admiral Xen, I am charging you with treason against the quarian people and the murder of one of our own."

"You don't have the authority or the audacity to try and bring this up with the other Admirals! And what evidence is there of these treasonous acts you speak of? I've only been speaking my mind as a geth holds my life in its hands. Without any type of proof you have nothing!"

"That's where you're wrong Admiral." Vibes released her 'hostage' and pointed to her visor, "I've been recording everything the moment I confronted you and it's being broadcasted to the quairan fleet, of which I'm still transmitting. So, have anything else you want to say to the other admirals?"

"Only if I can stop with this farce now that you have what you wanted." Suddenly Perceptor picked himself back up.

"No, that can't be! We overloaded your systems! You should be unable to move!"

Perceptor continued with getting back up to his feet, "Well after being captured by the Decepticons, I decided to install emergency backup systems that would be unaffected by such overloads and bring me be back online in a timely manner. I'd say I was reactive around the time your team was requesting restraints be used and you disregarded it, believing the restrains to be a waste of time. Now if you'll excuse me, I still have work to finish here."

"Go ahead, sir. I believe we have things wrapped up now."

* * *

Ravage's damage wasn't severe, although it did not prevent the Decepticon from continuing with Shepard's team to find the other Councilors. Unfortunately with the chaos they were forced to jump elevators, as Williams directed the Council to a shuttle that was already destroyed by Cerberus. Before they were able to return Shepard and his team, minus Laserbeak, as Ashley was uncertain what to do, "Shepard?"

Udina quickly tried to use this momentary confusion to his advantage, "Shepard's blocking our escape! And he has a Decepticon! They're obviously with Cerberus!"

Williams moved between the two sides, "Everybody hang on! Shepard, what's happening?"

Shepard tried to reason with her, "You know me better than this, Ash."

"I knew the old Shepard—before Cerberus. Right now, I'm not sure who I'm dealing with."

"We don't have time to negotiate. You've been fooled, all of you. Udina's behind this attack. The Councilor Valern confirmed it."

Udina was quick to dismiss him, "Please. You don't have proof. You never do."

Decibel eased his stance, "If it is proof you seek," Decibel's entire visor lite up brighter than usual before he started displaying a hologram from his perspective.

James looked to Decibel, "You recorded it?"

"I was repurposed for reconnaissance. My policy has always been to record everything as a precaution."

Decibel started back to when he first spotted the Cerberus assassin, "_Commander. Unidentified human male detected._"

"_Don't even think about it!_"

"_Shepard. He's going to kill us all._"

"_That remains to be seen._"

"_I mean Udina. He's staging a coup. He's got the other councilors to hand over to Cerberus._"

Decibel ended the recording to find the others a bit uncertain about Udina now. "It could be a fabrication!"

"Decepticons lie, Autobots don't."

Udina quickly rushed to the console to try and open the door, though the asari councilor stepped up to stop him. Udina pushed her off, and drew a concealed pistol on her. Before he could fire a thin purple laser streaked across the air and slicked the pistol in two as the one who fired it flew in front of Udina, Laserbeak.

That startle and confusion was enough time Decibel needed, or rather Noise. Noise jumped off Graphy, jumping over Williams and the asari councilor and landing above Udina. Noise used his hands to pin Udina as one of his foot's hook claw sliced through his cloths on his chest, tempted to rip into his flesh as he roared in his face to exhibit his metal fangs.

Graphy started flapping his wings as he looked to the door behind them. Someone was trying to cut their way through. Ravage was the first to get ready for a fight, however Graphy was blocking the way, preventing a clear view. As the doors opened it was difficult to see who it was behind Graphy, though the legs looked familiar. "Bailey?"

"Shepard? What is this thing?"

"One of ours, don't worry. But what are you doing here."

Graphy was back on the ground now as everyone holstered their weapons. "We made it as fast as we could, Shepard. Looks like you, uh…took care of things."

Ravage limped over to take Noise's place, placing a paw to Udina's neck and allowing the two Autobots to become one again. "Yes. The situation has been contained. The traitor Udina is in custody and Decepticon forces are finishing the elimination of Cerberus occupants." Decibel turned back as Laserbeak returned, perching himself on the railing. "And it would seem that they have someone that they wish for you to meet, Commander Shepard."

"Wait, something's not right." Tevos looked around, "You said Cerberus was targeting us—where did their soldiers go?"

"I believe I can answer that, ma'am." From behind Bailey an armored individual with a digitigrade legs and helmet appeared. He saluted, "High Commander Rago'Za of the Raloi military. My men are moving the bodies as we speak."

"Raloi?" Garrus sized him up, "I thought your people retreated back to your home system and destroyed all satellites? Something about not wanting to be involved in a war with those who have yet to harm you and not having the means to do so."

"We did. However Reaper forces seemed to have been aware of our space flight capabilities. If Megatron didn't arrive when he did, our planet would probably be a cinder by now."

"The Decepticons saved your species?"

Rago'Za nodded to Decibel, "Yes, but I believe such a discussion should be saved for another time. At least, once the situation isn't as high strung as it is now."

* * *

With reinforcements arriving from Tuchanka, the Autobots and turian forces were receiving much needed relief from the endless battles. "Warpath! Ha! Good to see that cannon again!"

Warpath and Dropshot bashed arms together, "I can't imagine how you two have been holding out without me!"

Bulkhead slammed his hands together, "Like this," his hand then turned into a wrecking ball as he threw it out and smashed a small patrol of Marauders.

"Nice. But it's lacking in the," Warpath transformed into a tank and fired on another group of Marauders, "BAM!"

Dropshot wrapped his arms around the two, "I love it, the three of us together. Nothin's gonna stop us now! Well…maybe one of those bigger Reapers…"

* * *

With Zen in custody, Vibes decided to stay and watch over Perceptor until he completed his task with the geth. A bit boring but at least she knew he was safe and the geth would attain their sentiency. With everything now truly at ease, Vibes, Perceptor, Legion and Tali went to the Citadel to find Shepard. "So Legion, how does it feel to have your people freely thinking, like you?"

"It is hard to describe. I feel great, yet I also feel worried. Is there something wrong with that?"

Vibes set the _Mirror-Manifold_ on autopilot for now as she turned to him, "I can't imagine there is. You're people are now on a path previously unknown to them and you all are still getting use to everything. I'm sure there'll be a few obstacles you'll have to overcome in the short-term and long-term, but I have confidence in your people. Isn't that right, sir?"

Perceptor nodded, "As expected. A machine race who has allowed logic and data to dictate many of their actions before now being given a new perspective, one that organics and Cybertronians still have yet to master themselves. It's only natural for uncertainty about your people's future to arise."

Tali walked up next to him, "And you'll have my support to help however possible."

Legion looked to her, "Thank you Tali. I feel better knowing that."

* * *

With the Citadel completely purged of Cerberus' presence, the Decepticons were preparing to return to their fleet except for High Commander Rago'Za. He has informed Shepard that he has been assigned a new mission, the official Decepticon liaison during this time of galactic war. Decibel was suspicious, "This doesn't make sense. Why are the Decepticons even sending a liaison in the first place? An organic to be precise."

Rago'Za looked away, "That is because this isn't as it seems. My soldiers are currently being held hostage. If I did not agree to this, Commander Slipstream threatened to allow the yahg to kill them. She claimed that she might not be able to control their bloodlust in battle."

"That is more like what I was expecting. So they sent you here as a means to control you by threatening the lives of your men."

Shepard looked to Decibel, "Isn't there anything we can do?"

"I'm afraid not, Commander," Decibel looked out to the nebula surrounding the Citadel, "It will require a major multipoint offensive against the Decepticons without having to fear of defending ourselves against the Reapers. Currently we cannot hope retake or rescue any of High Commander Rago'Za's people. However we could…" Decibel trailed off as he turned his full attention to the nebula. "Detecting approaching Autobot signatures."

* * *

"Scrap! Cons! And they're massed near the docks!"

Perceptor took a look now, "Odd. There are only seven of them. And from the energy readings I believe they are all Recordicons. Far too few for a full scale assault, and I don't detect any indications that the organics are attempting to remove them."

Vibes didn't like it. "What in the Allspark is going on?" Vibes activated the ship's comm, "Citadel Control. This is _Mirror-Manifold_. Requesting permission to dock."

"_Permission granted. Please dock at bay E37._"

"Roger that. Following designated flight path." Vibes really didn't like this. "Well at least they aren't in control like the last time when I visited this place."

Legion looked off, "I am picking up EDI's signal. She is requesting communication."

"Patch it through the ship's systems."

Legion did, "_Legion. I wasn't expecting to see you so soon._"

"It is good to hear your voice as well EDI."

"_I assume Vibes is with you as well._"

"I hear you too, EDI. We're docking at bay E37. Looks like a cargo load off area."

"_I will inform Shepard of where you'll be docking. It'll be good to see you two again._"

* * *

As the Autobot ship entered the docking area, Shepard and Decibel were waiting for the occupants to join them. "I'm still sorry that they had to transfer them here."

"It was anticipated. Due to the significant size difference between the average organic and average Cybertronian, this is one of the few locations that would adequately provide mobility for both parties."

"So what kind of ship is that?"

"The _Mirror-Manifold_ is a scouting vessel designed for a full crew of six or a minimum crew of two. It also serves as a mobile research station for limited fields of science."

The port hatch opened as the ramp extended and Vibes walked out of it. She looked combat ready, though she quickly eased up upon seeing Shepard and Decibel. "Shepard, I'm glad to see a friendly face again. You too Minicon."

Decibel saluted, "It will be an honor serving alongside you ma'am."

Vibes though stopped him, "Slow those pistons there. I haven't been transferred to do that, and I'm sure I'd be more useful fighting the Reapers." She looked around, "So what's the situation with the Cons?"

Shepard turned to Decibel, hoping he might have the best way of explaining the situation. And it appeared that he did. "Decepticon forces came to the Citadel in pursuit of Cerberus forces. We made a temporary cease fire until Cerberus no longer controlled the Citadel or threatened its inhabitants. In accordance to our arrangement, it also provided them with secured passage back to their main forces."

"I see." Vibes seemed a bit concerned over the news, though she didn't seem like she wanted to dwell too long on the subject. "It's good that we can at least avoid another Caleston, as I'm here to drop off some mutual friends of ours," Vibes then stepped aside to reveal Legion and Tali standing at the opening.

Shepard was completely surprised by this, "EDI didn't mention this."

"I believe this to be one of her humor attempts. I still do not understand it entirely."

"Legion…you're not referring to yourself as 'we'."

"Yes. Thanks due to Perceptor's software upgrades. My programming has become a true intelligence. All geth have achieved this state because of Perceptor."

"Please, I shouldn't be taking all of the credit." The red Autobot now at the opening, waiting for Legion and Tali to clear the ramp, "Truthfully all I really did was advance what your programming had already started deca-cycles ago, speeding the process to the point that individual platforms were completely self-sentient without needing the consensus for the necessary processing power. I'm confident that a few gigacycles in that massive station you had planned to upload all of your programs into would have done a similar rapid evolutionary response."

Vibes couldn't help but smile, seeing her friends together again, though she did notice a rather unusual individual. "So who's the organic in the mask?"

Shepard turned back to find Rago'Za. "So these are Autobots? They seem to be far different from the Decepticons than I imagined, except for the height."

"Commander Rago'Za? What are you doing here?"

Rago'Za walked over to Vibes, "I thought that since I was going to be working with you, I should acquaint myself with what an Autobot truly was like, beyond this one."

Vibes was concerned again, "I don't recognize his species."

Shepard then made the proper introductions, "Right, Vibes, this is High Commander Rago'Za of the raloi. He's our 'Decepticon liaison', or at least until the Reapers are destroyed."

"Liaison? Since when do the Cons use organics for anything? Uh…no offense."

Rago'Za nodded, "No need to be concerned. In truth this position is nothing more than another kind of imprisonment."

Decibel inturrpted before he when into details, "Vibes, I believe we can discuss that matter on a later note."

"Right." She then bowed to Rago'Za, "It is my honor to be one of your first interactions with the Autobots. But unfortunately this is also a limited interation. I've got to get Perceptor over to the project you humans are creating to defeat the Reapers before getting to the battlefields."

"Actually, I was told by Optimus to tell you that he would like you to work with Shepard. I'm more than capable of flying myself to these coordinates. And as you said yourself, there's no need for a fighter like yourself to be left doing nothing but menial labor of a construction drone. I doubt we'll have a repeat of Rannoch there."

Shepard quickly turned to Vibes, "What happened on Rannoch?"

Vibes looked to Tali as she replied, "J-just a bit of technical difficulty. Everything has been resolved so no need to concern yourself about it any further. So, I'm kind of curious as to the changes the Alliance has made to the _Normandy_. Mind giving a girl a private tour?"

* * *

The Recordicons returned from the Citadel, a few lifesigns were missing, but it was to be expected in war. Slipstream watched from a distance as her soldiers returned, obviously victorious over the pathetic Cerberus attempt to capture the Citadel. She waited for Ravage and Laserbeak to disembark before approaching them. "So how was the mission?" Ravage continued to limp, though he happily reported that he was able to leave the one she wanted behind. Slipstream nodded, not saying another word as she walked away. _Now for the real fun to begin soon. All I have to do is avoid the new girls, put the boot to a few Cons and keep up this fake smile for the organics._

* * *

Thundercraker was continuing to isolate himself from his fellow Decepticons, feeling the use of these organics was only worsening the Decepticon cause more than it is helping. "Look, there goes Thundercraker."

"Don't you mean, Protocraker." The two started laughing openly at him, but he didn't even care.

However waiting in the hallway was another flyer, Divebomb. "Seems like the other Cons have lost all respect for you my friend." Thundercraker tried to walk past but Divebomb wouldn't allow him, slaming his new talons into the wall, "Listen, I respect you as a fellow flyer, but like Slipstream said, your concern for these organics is only making us look weak. And with these new upgrades from Shockwave," Divebomb's talons easily tore into the metal wall, "I don't tolerate weakness like I used to. You know the organics have a thing they call the law of the jungle; the strong survive, the weak perish. So join the Autobot if you feel this sympathetic for the organics again, otherwise stow it or I'll make you. Are we clear?"

Thrundercraker pushed Divebomb out of his way, "I know where I stand between Autobots and Decepticons, but I still don't know what to think about involving organics. So don't ever question my loyalty to the Decepticon cause."

As Thundercraker left, Divebomb looked to the shadows, "He's a tough bolt, I'll give him that. I see now why you keep pushing him like this."

* * *

**A/N:** Why couldn't we do something like that? Udina pull up a poorly edited security feed to make it look like Shepard killed the salarian(if we fail to save the councilor) and we couldn't use real footage to prove otherwise? Guess it was suppose to be the whole 'trust issue' thing with the VS.


End file.
